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Historical 1<(eview 




Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe 



Or, 



January, 1950 



Editors 
FRANK D. REEVE PAUL A. F. WALTER 

Associates 

PERCY M. BALDWIN GEORGE P. HAMMOND 

FRANCE V. SCHOLES THEODOSIUS MEYER, O.F.M. 

ARTHUR J. 0. ANDERSON 

VOL. XXV JANUARY, 1950 No. 1 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Mescalero Apache History in the Southwest 

Morris Edward Opler and Catherine H. Opler .... 1 



Frederick E. Phelps: a Soldier's Memoirs 

Frank D. Reeve, editor 37 



Checklist of New Mexico Publications (continued) 

Wilma Loy Shelton 57 



Book Reviews 73 



THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW is published jointly by the Historical Society 
of New Mexico and the University of New Maxico. Subscription to the quarterly is 
$3.00 a year in advance ; single numbers, except those which have become scarce, are 
$1.00 each. 

Business communications should be addressed to Mr. P. A. F. Walter, State 
Museum, Santa Fe, N. M. ; manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be 
addressed to Prof. Frank D. Reeve, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. M. 

Entered as second-class matter at Santa Fe, New Mexico 
UNIVERSITY PRESS, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. 



f> 



NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL 
REVIEW 

VOL. XXV JANUARY, 1950 No. 1 

MESCALERO APACHE HISTORY IN THE 
SOUTHWEST 

By MORRIS EDWARD OPLER AND CATHERINE H. OPLER* 

THE early history of the Mescalero Apache Indians of 
the American Southwest is most obscure. 1 The Va- 
queros, mentioned by Castano de Sosa in 1590, are thought 
by some to be buffalo-hunting Apache of the region which 
is now eastern New Mexico and western Texas and may have 
included the Mescalero. 2 Benavides, in his report to the king 
in 1630, said that as yet the various Apache tribes known 
as Apaches de Xila, Apaches de Navajo, and Apaches Va- 
queros had caused no trouble. 3 The group called Apaches 
del Perillo, which occupied during the 16th and 17th cen- 
turies the region of the Jornada del Muerto near the Rio 
Grande, may have been partly composed of bands later iden- 
tified as Mescalero Apache. 4 

* Professor Opler is head of the Department of Anthropology, Cornell University. 
Catherine H. is Mrs. Opler. 

The picture of the Mescalero Agency came to the Editor by courtesy of Senator 
Clinton P. Anderson. 

1. There has been a good deal of speculation as to whether such tribes as the 
Querechos encountered by Coronado and the "Apaches" seen by Onate between 1540 
and 1600 in the Southwest region included Mescalero bands. See Edward S. Curtis, 
ed., The North American Indian, 3 (University Press, Cambridge, 1907) ; Frederick 
Webb Hodge, "Early Navaho and Apache," American Anthropologist, VIII, 234 (1906) ; 
Hodge, ed., Handbook of American Indians, I, 63 (Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 30, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., 1907) ; A. F. Bandelier 
"Final Report of Investigations among Indians of the Southwest United States," 
Papers of the Archaeological Institute of America, American Series III, Part I, 178-79 
(University Press, Cambridge, 1890) ; Herbert Eugene Bolton, Spanish Exploration in 
the Southwest, 1542-1706, 217-18, 252 (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1916). 

2. Ralph Emerson Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, III, 
190-91 (The Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1917) ; Hodge, Handbook . . . , I, 63. 

3. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of the Pacific States of North America, XII, 
162 (The History Co., San Francisco, 1888). 

4. Hodge, op. cit., 67. 



2 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

In the account of the Mendoza-Lopez expedition to the 
Jumanos of 1683-84, the Mescales are listed as one of the 
tribes represented at an assembly of Indians at Sacatsol. 5 
That the Apache were already horsemen we learn from this 
same account. It is recorded that the "hostile Apaches stole 
nine animals" and that these animals "joined those of the 
Indians." 6 The Mescales are again mentioned, this time as 
one of five nations joined tog-ether, in the account of the 
De Leon-Massanet expeditions, 1689-90. 7 

The Mescalero were first spoken of by that name in the 
middle of the 18th century. They were thus called because 
of their custom of eating baked mescal ( Agave americana) . 
Their territory extended on the east through the mountains 
on both sides of the Pecos, on the west to the Rio Grande, 
south through the region now known as Coahuila and Chi- 
huahua, Mexico, to the desert Bolson de Mapimi, and to the 
White Mountains of the present state of New Mexico in the 
north. 8 

The Mescalero were from early times hunters and raid- 
ers. They were reported to have made frequent attacks on 
the villages of the Aztecs along the Rio Grande long before 
the coming of the Spaniards. 9 It was inevitable that so 
fearless and venturesome a people should clash later with 
the Spanish colonists. In 1776 all the northern provinces of 
Spain were placed under a commandant-general with the 
capital at Chihuahua. A campaign against the Apache was 
proposed but was not carried out at that time. 10 However, 
because of demands from the frontier provinces and at the 
advice of the viceroy, the crown authorized a relentless war 
on the wild tribes in 1788-89. The Spanish then waged con- 
stant war upon the Lipan Apache and the Mescalero Apache 



5. Bolton, op. tit., 356. 

6. Ibid., 335. 

7. Ibid., 389. 

8. Whipple, Ewbank, and Turner, Pacific Railroad Reports, III, 119 (Washington, 
D. C., 1856) ; Pliny Earle Goddard, Indians of the Southwest, 141-42 (American Museum 
of Natural History, Handbook Series No. 2, 3rd ed., New York, 1927). Twitchell, op. tit., 
190-91. 

9. Dudley G. Wooten, A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685-1897, I, 740 (Wil- 
liam G. Scarff, Dallas, 1898, 2 vols.). 

10. Walter Prescott Webb, The Great Plains, 137 (Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston 
and New York. 1936). 



MESCALERO APACHE 3 

until they were subdued. 11 The ensuing peace lasted from 
1790 until the end of Spanish rule. 12 

In 1821 Mexico gained her independence from Spain. 
Like her predecessor, she encountered difficulty with the 
Mescalero. The valley of the Rio Grande, the highway known 
as the Jornada del Muerto, and the settlements around So- 
corro were often raided. It was difficult for the Mexicans to 
keep the route between El Paso and Valverde open so that 
travelers could journey in safety from New Mexico to Chi- 
huahua. The Apache would attack unprotected wagon trains 
and return quickly to their mountain hide-outs with their 
booty. The Mexicans found it exceedingly difficult to over- 
take them or to engage them in battle. 13 The raid, regarded 
by the Apache as a daring economic venture which added 
stock and supplies to their meager resources and supple- 
mented hunting, gathering, and very limited agricultural 
pursuits, apeared treacherous and savage to the Mexicans 
who understood warfare in terms of large-scale battles lead- 
ing to the conquest of peoples and lands. The raiding Mes- 
calero often carried off and adopted Mexican children. The 
Spaniards and the Mexicans also took captives, and the set- 
tlements had many Apache and Navaho slaves. 14 During 
this period of hostilities with the Mexicans, the Mescalero 
were also fighting with the Comanche for the buffalo range. 15 

Though it is doubtful that the Mescalero paid much at- 
tention to the dissensions of a political nature among those 
who had settled on their lands, still such happenings were 
to affect them profoundly in the future. In 1835 Texas de- 
clared itself a republic but was not recognized as such by 
Mexico. 16 During the next few years the Texas Rangers 
equipped themselves with Colt revolving pistols, 17 the six- 
shooters which figure largely from that time on in Mescalero 
as well as American accounts of wars and feuds. 



11. Bancroft, History of the Pacific States, VI, 466. 

12. Ibid., History of the Pacific States, XII, 401. 

13. Twitchell, op. cit., II, 35, 36. 

14. Ibid., 36. 

15. Lansing B. Bloom, "New Mexico under Mexican Administration," Old Santa 
Fe, I, 352 (April, 1914). 

16. Webb, op. cit., 165-67. 

17. Ibid., 171-72. 



4 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

In 1846 El Paso was occupied by the Americans, and in 
1848 the Territory of New Mexico was ceded to the United 
States. This event brought a large part of the country over 
which the Mescalero ranged into American control. The 
Apache continued in their usual pursuits. They kept watch 
on the highway through Mexico from Chihuahua to El Paso 
and descended from the mountains to plunder the wagon 
trains which passed there. They were known for their 
daring. Once they attacked an armed party of fifty Amer- 
icans on the Chihuahua road, killing thirty-five of them. 
Near the Pecos, in Texas, a group from the Guadalupe Moun- 
tains killed another party of Americans. 18 

Policies and procedures for dealing with Indian tribes 
had, of course, been worked out long before the Mescalero 
found themselves under American domination. The United 
States had adopted the policy of the British Crown of treat- 
ing with Indian tribes as sovereign states. The Federal gov- 
ernment alone was empowered to make treaties with them. 
Therefore a curious situation arose ; sovereign nations exist- 
ed within the bounds of the United States. 19 A Bureau of 
Indian Affairs had been established in 1824 in the War De- 
partment, and in 1832 Congress authorized the appointment 
of a Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1849 the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs was transferred to the newly-created, civilian- 
manned Department of the Interior. Indian policies and ad- 
ministration were, however, little affected by this change. 20 

James S. Calhoun was appointed to the Santa Fe Indian 
Agency April 7, 1849. Trouble arose not only with the Mes- 
calero but also with other Apache groups and with the Nava- 
ho and Comanche. All were looked upon by the white settlers 
as thieving bands. 21 To protect the people of the Rio Grande 
Valley from the Mescalero and other Apache groups, a mili- 



18. Wooten, op. cit., II, 740. 

19. William Christie Macleod, The American Indian Frontier, 633 (Alfred A. 
Knopf, New York, 1928). 

20. Laurence F. Schmeckebier, The Office of Indian Affairs: Its History, Activi- 
ties, and Organization, 26, 27, 43 (Institute for Government Research: Service Mono- 
graphs of the United States Government, No. 48, Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 
1927). 

21. Alban W. Hoopes, Indian Affairs and their Administration, 1849-1860, 161 
(University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1932). 



MESCALERO APACHE 5 

tary force was kept at Dona Ana during the military occu- 
pation and prior to New Mexico's acquisition of territorial 
status. 22 Calhoun's suggested solution to the Indian problem 
was one that was unfortunately to become popular. "The 
Comanches and Apaches, with all the adjacent fragments of 
other tribes must be penned up," he wrote, and thought the 
Apaches, Comanches, Navahos, and Utes should be put in 
four districts, a hundred miles apart. 23 

When New Mexico became a Territory in 1850, Calhoun 
became territorial governor, an office which carried with it 
the superintendency of Indian affairs. His attitude toward 
the Apache was probably not softened by the news that a 
member of the Santa Fe Legislature had been killed and 
scalped while crossing the Jornada del Muerto. 24 

In 1851 Fort Fillmore was built near Las Cruces, and 
the residents of Dona Ana petitioned the government not to 
remove the military forces from their settlement. 25 

John Greiner, acting superintendent of Indian affairs, 
sent runners that summer through Mescalero country to 
bring in the chiefs for a council. Thirty leaders came to 
Santa Fe, and on July 1 a treaty of "perpetual peace and 
amity" was negotiated with the Mescalero by Colonel E. V. 
Sumner and Greiner. 26 William Carr Lane, the next gov- 
ernor and superintendent of Indian affairs, who arrived in 
September, 1852, made treaties with the Apaches in the 
southwest and northeast in which he agreed to give them 
rations for five years, believing this to be a more effective 
curb than force. He spent about twenty thousand dollars 
in carrying out his policy, but his treaties were not approved 
by the government. Governor David Meriwether, who as- 
sumed his duties on August 8, 1853, found himself unable, 
because of insufficient funds, to feed the needy Indians. He 
himself believed in controlling the Indians by force. 27 

In the same month that Meriwether took office, Agent 

22. Twitchell, op. cit.. Ill, 442. 

23. Hoopes, op. cit., 164, 165. 

24. Twitchell, op. cit., II, 292. 

25. Twitchell, op. cit., Ill, 442, 443. 

26. Hoopes, op. cit., 167-68. 

27. Twitchell, op. cit., II, 295, 298. 



6 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Steck reported that the Mescalero had killed two Mexican 
residents of Dona Ana, had attacked a party of settlers, and 
had stolen 150 head of stock. 28 In December Brevet Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel D. T. Chandler was directed to reconnoiter the 
White Mountains, to interview the head men of the Mes- 
calero, and to demand the restitution of stolen property and 
the surrender of "murderers." He was to attack the Mes- 
calero if they failed to comply with his orders. 29 

By the terms of the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, the United 
States not only acquired a great amount of land but was 
also released from the responsibility (provided for under 
the treaty of 1848) for outrages committed in Mexican ter- 
ritory by Indians living in the United States. At this time 
claims on account of ravages by Apache and Comanche In- 
dians amounting to millions of dollars had been presented 
by Mexico. 30 

The year 1854 brought further trouble from the Jicarilla 
Apache, Whose rations had been cut off, and many Mescalero 
individuals were said to have made common cause with 
them. Both groups were accused of carrying on a brisk trade 
in stolen property. The comparative scarcity of game in their 
territory was given as one of the reasons for the Mescalero 
plundering of horses and stock from the people of New 
Mexico, Texas, and Chihuahua. At this time there were 
about 750 Mescalero Apache, claiming the country east of 
the Rio Grande on both sides of the Pecos north to about the 
34th parallel. 31 

The establishment of Fort Thorn on the west bank of 
the Rio Grande, of Fort Bliss at El Paso, and of Fort Craig 
on the Rio Grande just south of the 34th parallel, guarding 
the entrance to the Jornada del Muerto, brought much of 
the western part of the lands claimed by the Mescalero under 
closer American military supervision. 32 

General Garland, who had sent Lieutenant Bell against 

28. Hoopes, op. cit., 172. 

29. Bender, "Frontier Defense in the Territory of New Mexico, 1853-61," NEW 
MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, IX, 347 (October, 1934). 

30. Twitchell, op. cit., II, 811. 

31. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 171 (Washington, D. C., 1854). 

32. Bender, op cit., 347-48. 






MESCALERO APACHE 7 

the Jicarilla, had a hundred and eighty men in the field 
against the Mescalero in June of 1854 with Chandler as com- 
mander. Their mission was to put an end to the raids of the 
Mescalero on travelers along the San Antonio-El Paso high- 
way. General Garland spoke of the Apache as "infesting" 
the road and committing murders and robberies. 33 

In February of the next year, Captain R. S. Ewell, First 
Dragoons, conducted a campaign against the Mescalero and 
defeated them. Lieutenant Samuel D. Sturgis routed another 
band. 34 Colonel Dixon S. Miles with about 300 men set out 
on a three-months' campaign through the White Mountains, 
the Sacramento range, and the Guadalupe Mountains. How- 
ever, he did not engage in any battles, for the Mescalero 
were ready to sue for peace. With Dr. Michael Steck, their 
agent, pleading their cause, the Mescalero promised to sur- 
render stolen property and to deliver hostages. 35 

But it was felt that more military posts were needed, and 
in May, 1855, Fort Stanton was established on the Bonito 
River, some twenty miles east of the White Mountains, on 
the site near which Captain H. W. Stanton had lost his life 
in an encounter in January with the Mescalero warriors. 36 

The military camaign against the various Indian tribes 
within the Territory of New Mexico having been success- 
fully concluded, Governor Meriwether negotiated a series 
of treaties during the summer of 1855. The first of these, 
in June at Fort Thorn, involved the Mimbres, a division of 
the Eastern Chiricahua Apache band, and the Mescalero 
Apache. In his report of this event, Governor Meriwether 
wrote: "I found these Indians in the most destitute condi- 
tion imaginable. I relieved their immediate wants, and di- 
rected Agent Steck to issue to them a limited amount of 
provisions, from time to time, as they might apply for relief 
and their necessities seem to require it." 37 By the terms of 

33. F. T. Cheetham, "El Camino Militar," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XV, 
5 (January, 1940). 

34. Bender, op. cit., 350 ; Twitchell, op. cit., II, 302 ; Report of the Commissioner 
of Indian Affairs, 186-87 (1855) ; J. P. Dunn, Jr., Massacres of the Mountains: A 
History of the Indian Wars of the Far West, 378 (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1886). 

35. Bender, op. cit., 351. 

36. Ibid., Twitchell, op. cit., II, 302. 

37. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 187 (1855). 



8 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

the treaty of 1855, a reservation for the Mescalero was des- 
ignated near Fort Stanton. Although the treaty was not 
approved, an agency was maintained at the fort, and some 
of the Mescalero received goods from it, remained at peace, 
and farmed in the vicinity. 38 

The first year after the treaty, Superintendent of Indian 
Affairs Meriwether and Agent Steck differed concerning the 
behavior of the Mescalero. Mr. Meriwether saw little im- 
provement in them and said they were forced to continue 
their thieving to keep from starving when Agent Steck re- 
fused them any more provisions unless they returned the 
property they had stolen. 39 In support of these charges, 
there is a record of at least one skirmish between the Mes- 
calero and the military. 40 But Agent Steck gave a glowing 
account of their good conduct. He reports that a good many 
horses were brought in and returned to their former owners ; 
rations and clothing were distributed to the Indians ; a head 
man named Cadete, son of a deceased friendly head man 
called Baranquito, promised his support to the agent; and 
thirty-five heads of families began farming on a stream at 
Alamogordo about seventy miles southwest of Fort Stanton. 41 

The idea of reservations as a solution to the Indian prob- 
lem in New Mexico now gained support on all sides. In 1856 
the Territorial legislature requested reservations for the 
30,000 uncivilized Indians roaming with little restraint in 
the Territory ; 42 the Appropriation Acts of 1856-57 contem- 
plated the establishment of reservations in New Mexico; 43 
and the Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 
1856 advised that there was little chance of changing the 
ways of the Mescalero "without the advantages of a perma- 
nent home." 44 Two years later, Superintendent Collins pro- 

38. Twitchell, op. cit., II, 302. 

39. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 181 (1856). 

40. Twitchell, op. cit., II. 301-2. 

41. Frank D. Reeve, "The Federal Indian Policy in New Mexico, 1858-80," NEW 
MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XIII, 261 (July, 1938) ; Report of the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs, 287-88, (1857). 

42. Bender, op. cit., 354. 

43. Hoopes, op. cit., 177. 

44. P. 15. 






MESCALERO APACHE 

posed uniting all the Southern Apache on the Gila River 
away from white settlements. 45 

If talk of such a "permanent home" reached the Mes- 
calero people, they must have heard it with some bitterness 
and amazement, for they were attempting to live, against 
great odds, in the place that had been their permanent home 
for as long a time as any of them knew anything about. But, 
as Dunn has pointed out, there were no Indian lands in the 
eyes of the Americans. The Mexicans had treated the In- 
dian title as extinct, we had taken the Mexican title* and 
our legislators consequently assumed that the Indians3^ 
held the land had no title to it. 46 

Cadete and his followers continued to farm at Alamo- 
gordo. Another group known as the Agua Nuevo band under 
Mateo and Verancia stayed in the vicinity of Dog Canyon 
in the Sacramento Mountains and presumably followed the 
old ways of hunt and raid, since they were considered "trou- 
blesome." 47 An infantry company engaged in a brief en- 
counter with an Apache group at Carrizozo. 48 Still another 
band under the chief known as Marcus roamed in the Guada- 
lupe Mountains and, by the New Mexico authorities, were 
considered to be in country belonging properly to the De- 
partment of Texas. This band wished to join the White 
Mountain band, but their request was refused. They were 
reported to have committed frequent "depredations" on the 
San Antonio road and in the settlement near El Paso. 49 

But in this particular year, the Mescalero were them- 
selves the victims of two affrays which might well come 
under the heading "depredations." In February a party of 
Mexicans from Mesilla, known as the "Mesilla Guard," at- 
tacked a peaceful Mescalero camp near Dona Ana, killing 
several persons and taking one child captive. At daybreak on 
April 17, the Mexicans charged the Mescalero camp at Fort 
Thorn, ruthlessly slaying men, women, and children. The 



45. Reeve, op. cit., 261. 

46. Dunn, op. cit., 380. 

47. Reeve, ibid. 

48. Twitchell, op. cit., II, 301-2. 

49. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1858). 



10 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

American military pursued the Mexicans and captured 
thirty-five of the band, including their leader. General Gar- 
land, incensed by this attack on Indians he knew had been 
living in peace, determined to withdraw his troops and 
leave the residents of the area to face the Indians alone. 
Protests and requests for protection arose from the settlers, 
with the result that General Garland left two companies to 
protect innocent settlers but informed the others that they 
had "no claims to the protection of the military." 50 

In February of the next year, Lieutenant H. M. Lazelle, 
in retaliation for a raid on San Elizario south of El Paso, 
invaded the Sacramento Mountains and was defeated by the 
Dog Canyon Mescalero. 51 

Although the country of the Mescalero still seemed re- 
mote, vast, and empty, the center of population in the United 
States was moving steadily westward. By 1859 nearly one 
hundred thousand miners had crossed the prairies and set- 
tled in Colorado and the surrounding mineral-producing re- 
gions. Without waiting for the Federal government to liqui- 
date Indian title to the lands, they laid out towns and roads 
and went ahead with mining and farming operations. Their 
activities began to frighten off the buffalo herds, thus bring- 
ing further hardship to the native population. 62 

An attempt was made in 1860 to start some of the Mes- 
calero planting on the Penasco River south of Fort Stanton. 
They were given rations of beef and corn, the corn ground 
into meal so that they could not use it to make the mild corn 
beer that was popular among them. 53 By now the attitude 
of the white men toward the Mescalero was clearly defined. 
The Mescalero must be actually exterminated ; or they must 
be got rid of in another sense, made over into hard-working 
farmers who should never frighten or shock the most timid 
soul again. The Mescalero, of course, resisted both kinds 
of extinction in stubborn and manly fashion. 

The outbreak of the Civil War produced violent reper- 
cussions in Mescalero country. Lieutenant-Colonel Critten- 

50. Dunn, op. cit., 378-79 ; Bender, op. cit., 366-67. 

51. Reeve, op. cit., 261 ; Twitchell, op. cit., 301-2. 

52. Macleod, op. cit., 490. 

53. Reeve, op. cit., 262. 



MESCALERO APACHE 11 

den, assembling a force at Fort Stanton, led an expedition 
against the Mescalero, but apparently he did not encounter 
any Apache in his march toward the Texas border. Accord- 
ing to one account, he confessed in a drunken moment that 
his hope was to lead the men from Stanton and various other 
forts to Texas where he could deliver them to the Confed- 
erate States. 54 

In 1861, General H. H. Sibley, who had been a captain 
in the United States Army before he resigned and offered his 
services to the Confederacy, was authorized to raise a bri- 
gade for the occupation of New Mexico. Sibley's brigade 
proceeded by detachments from San Antonio to Fort Thorn. 
Along the way they were frequently attacked by Indians who 
had no interest in the Civil War but who were greatly at- 
tracted by the stock and provisions of the Southern forces. 55 
Undoubtedly some Mescalero raiders were involved in these 
swift forays. 

The invasion of the Texans caused the abandonment of 
Fort Stanton by the government troops. The Mescalero 
themselves became involved in a fight with the Texans, and 
several were killed on both sides. 56 Confederates under Col- 
onel John R. Baylor had now taken Fort Bliss near El Paso, 
and the Mesilla Valley was in Confederate hands, with many 
New Mexicans aiding the invaders. 57 

The withdrawal of government troops left the settle- 
ments exposed to Indian raids. Kit Carson's biographer 
says it is alleged that the Mescaleros were aroused to vio- 
lence against their white neighbors by the outrages of the 
Indian-hating Texans who had invaded their country. 58 
Ranchers lost their stock and were themselves killed, miners 
were driven from their camps. In the neighborhood of Fort 
Stanton the ranches were entirely abandoned. 59 

Meanwhile the combined forces of General Sibley and 
Colonel Baylor, the Army of New Mexico, as it was called, 

54. Twitchell, op. cit., Ill, 410. 

55. Wooten, op. cit., II, 695, 



56. Report of the Commissioner ol/]ylian Affairs, 122 (1861)-. 

57. Sabin, Kit Carson Days, II, 682. '/C 

58. Ibid., 702. f{j~ 

59. Twitchell, op. cit., II, 428. ^ " ***>< 



12 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

advanced to a site ten miles below Fort Craig where they 
met in battle the Union forces, including a regiment of New 
Mexico Volunteers under Kit Carson. This Battle of Val- 
verde resulted in a victory for the Texans, who then pro- 
ceeded to Socorro, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe. They were 
defeated by Federal troops in Glorieta Pass, east of Santa 
Fe, and were forced to retreat. Suffering great hardship, 
they made their way back to Fort Fillmore and prepared to 
evacuate the Territory of New Mexico. By the first of Au- 
gust, the Confederates had departed from New Mexico and 
from Fort Bliss in Texas. 60 

In that summer of 1862 it may have appeared to the 
Mescalero that they were reconquering their lands and that 
the white men were to be driven from their midst. But any 
such hope was destined to be shortlived indeed. General 
James H. Carleton, leading his "California Column" of 3,000 
men, now advanced toward New Mexico by way of Fort 
Yuma. At Apache Pass the Chiricahua Apache under Man- 
gas Colorado and Cochise offered resistance but were de- 
feated. Carleton arrived at the Rio Grande settlements and 
relieved Colonel Canby as Commander of the Department 
of New Mexico on September 18. Immediately he planned 
a ruthless campaign against the Mescalero. 61 

General Carleton had spent more than twenty years in 
the army, and during most of those years he had been either 
stationed near Indian tribes or engaged in campaigns 
against them. As will be seen, he was a man of narrow and 
firmly held convictions, self-righteous, and extremely brutal 
in the execution of the policies to which he adhered. Now 
he felt that he must * 'punish and control" the Mescalero. 

To accomplish this end he planned a campaign in which 
the Mescalero were to be attacked from the north, the west, 
and the southwest by three separate forces. The several com- 
mands were to be independent of each other, and secrecy 
was advised so that the Indians might not be forewarned by 
the Mexicans of the coming attacks. Each expedition was to 
establish a depot well out in Mescalero country. 

60 Wooten, op. cit., II, 700-706. 

61. Dunn, op. cit., 382-83 ; Twitchell, op. cit., II, 428-29. 






MESCALERO APACHE 13 

Colonel Christopher Carson with five companies of his 
New Mexico Volunteers was ordered to reoccupy Fort Stan- 
ton, from which he was to operate against the Mescalero 
and any Navaho in that region. Carson was directed to 
send one mounted company southwest to the junction of the 
Rio Hondo and the Pecos to see that no forces advanced up 
the Pecos from the direction of Fort Lancaster, Texas. 

Captain McCleave, with two companies of California 
Volunteers, was to enter Mescalero country from the south- 
west by way of Dog Canyon and operate eastward and south- 
eastward. His force was to include "twenty good Mexican 
spies and guides." His instructions were to start on Novem- 
ber 15 and be absent until the thirty-first of December. 

The third expedition, under the command of Captain 
Roberts, was to start from Franklin, Texas, on November 
15 and proceed by way of the Wacco Tanks northwest into 
Mescalero country. This force consisted of two companies 
of Californians and was authorized to employ twenty Pueblo 
Indians and Mexicans from Isleta, Socorro [Texas] and San 
Elizario. This force was to be absent until December 31. 

All three expeditions were to keep a careful guard against 
the Texans and to annoy and harass them to the utmost of 
their ability. 62 

But their main objective was the complete subjection of 
the Mescalero Apache. General Carleton's instructions to 
Colonel Carson, dated October 12, 1862, read : 

"All Indian men of that tribe are to be killed whenever 
and wherever you can find them. The women and children 
will not be harmed, but you will take them prisoners, and 
feed them at Fort Stanton until you receive other instruc- 
tions about them. If the Indians send in a flag and desire 
to treat for peace, say to the bearer that when the people 
of New Mexico were attacked by the Texans, the Mescaleros 
broke their treaty of peace, and murdered innocent people, 
and ran off their stock ; that now our hands are untied, and 
you have been sent to punish them for their treachery and 

62. Estelle Bennett Burton, "Volunteer Soldiers of New Mexico and Their Con- 
flicts with Indians in 1862 and 1863," Old Santa Fe, 1, 391-93 (October, 1914) ; Dunn, 
op. cit., 383-84 ; Amsden, "The Navaho Exile at Bosque Redondo," NEW MEXICO HIS- 
TORICAL REVIEW, VIII, 37 (January, 1933). 



14 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

their crimes ; that you have no power to make peace ; that 
you are there to kill them wherever you can find them ; that 
if they beg for peace, their chiefs and twenty of their prin- 
cipal men must come to Santa Fe to have a talk here ; but 
tell them fairly and frankly that you will keep after their 
people and slay them until you receive orders to desist from 
these headquarters; that this making of treaties for them 
to break whenever they have an interest in breaking them 
will not be done any more; that that time has passed by; 
that we have no faith in their promises ; that we believe if we 
kill some of their men in fair, open war, they will be apt to 
remember that it will be better for them to remain at peace 
than to be at war. I trust that this severity, in the long run, 
will be the most humane course that could be pursued toward 
these Indians." 63 

At the end of October, some of Colonel Carson's troops 
under Captain James Graydon, while on a scout, encountered 
Manuelito, an old Mescalero chief, and his band. The Indians 
signed for peace and a talk, but Captain Graydon fired on 
them, killing Manuelito, Jose Largo, several other men, and 
one woman. He then went off with seventeen horses and 
mules. Later it was discovered that old Manuelito had, in 
fact, been on the way to Santa Fe to beg for peace. At the 
end of November we find General Carleton writing to Colonel 
Carson, "If you are satisfied that Graydon's attack on Man- 
uelita and his people was not fair and open, see that all the 
horses and mules, including two said to be in the hands of one 
Mr. Beach [a trader] of Monzana are returned to the sur- 
vivors of Manuelita's band." 64 

In November, Captain McCleave and his troops en- 
countered about five hundred Mescalero at the Gateway 
Pass of Dog Canyon and defeated them. Their leaders now 
started for Fort Stanton to ask for peace. 65 

Late in November, Colonel Carson sent several Mescalero 
chiefs with an escort and accompanied by their agent, Lor- 
enzo Labadie, to Santa Fe to entreat peace. There they met 

63. Amsden, op. cit., 38 ; Reeve, op. cit., 263. 

64. Sabin, op. cit., II, 703-4 ; 848. 

65. Sabin, Ibid., 704 ; Dunn, op. cit., 383-384. 



MESCALERO APACHE 15 

with General Carleton, the Governor, the Superintendent of 
Indian Affairs, and others. General Carleton's terms were 
harsh indeed. He told them that the Mescalero who desired 
peace must come out of their own country, so that they would 
not be mistaken for hostiles, and must go to the Bosque 
Redondo, a reservation set aside for them on the Pecos River 
at Fort Sumner. They were told that they and their fami- 
lies would be fed and protected at this reservation until 
those who were still at war were punished and defeated. At 
the end of hostilities all Mescalero were to return to a reser- 
vation in their own country. 

Cadete (also known as Gian-nah-tah and the Volunteer) 
acted as spokesman for the Mescalero. According to Dunn, 
he replied : " 'You are stronger than we. We have fought you 
so long as we had rifles and powder ; but your weapons are 
better than ours. Give us like weapons and turn us loose, 
we will fight you again ; but we are worn out ; we have no 
more heart; we have no provisions, no means to live; your 
troops are everywhere; our springs and water holes are 
either occupied or overlooked by your young men. You have 
driven us from our last and best stronghold, and we have 
no more heart. Do with us as may seem good to you, but 
do not forget we are men and braves/ " 66 

The Bosque Redondo Reserve, an area forty miles square 
with an estimated 6,000 acres of arable land, was not actual- 
ly recommended to and approved by President Lincoln as 
"a reservation for Apache Indians" until January 15, 1864. 
In Commissioner William P. Dole's letter concerning the 
necessity for designating this area as an Apache Reserve, 
the following points are most interesting in view of later 
developments: (1) Superintendent Steck advised that the 
Bosque Redondo was suitable for "a limited number of In- 
dians ;" (2) he estimated that there were about 3,000 Apache 
to be sent there; (3) the real purpose of the reserve seems 
to have been to control the Apache "and isolate them as far 
as possible from the whites." 67 



66. Dunn, op. cit., 383-84. 

67. Charles J. Kappler, Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, II, 870 (Government 
Printing Office, Washington, 1904). 



16 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

The passage of the Federal Homestead Law of 1862 68 
must have made such isolation seem all the more desirable 
to many an official in the west. 

Shortly after the Santa Fe meeting with the Mescalero 
leaders, Colonel Carson received instructions to send the 
Mescalero of the "peace party" to Fort Sumner by wagon 
train. Such a train was soon expected with stores from Fort 
Union. It would be filled upon its return with Mescalero 
men, women, and children and their few belongings. Other 
groups were to be sent as they surrendered. The command- 
ing officer at Fort Sumner was instructed to feed them and 
to keep them encamped sufficiently near his garrison so that 
they could not escape to their own country. He was further 
advised by General Carleton, "These Indians are to be fed 
by your commissary; are to be treated kindly; are not to 
be annoyed by soldiers visiting their camp at improper 
times." 

By February, 1863, General Carleton considered that the 
Mescalero were completely subdued. There were over 350 
at Fort Sumner or on the way there. About a hundred were 
known to have fled to Mexico. Some were believed to have 
joined the Western Apache of the Gila River region. 69 

With the Mescalero out of the way, General Carleton's 
forces were able to attack Mangas Colorado's group and de- 
feated them in January, 1863. The Navaho, who were to 
be the next tribe to feel General Carleton's might, were at 
this time raiding down to the lower Rio Grande and across 
Mescalero country. They even stampeded stock from the 
Bosque Redondo. 71 

In the spring of 1863, the Mescalero planted 200 acres. 
Meanwhile there were difficulties about food. The flour sent 
them was found to be adulterated. At the end of May the 
military passed the responsibility of feeding the Mescalero 
to the civil authorities. By the end of October, funds for this 
purpose had run low, and Steck, who was now Superintend- 
ent of Indian Affairs in New Mexico, requested General 

68. Webb, op. cit., 230. 

69. Burton, op. cit., 394-95. 

70. Dunn, op. cit., 384. 

71. Sabin, op. cit., II, 708. 



MESCALERO APACHE 17 

Carleton to let the Indians return for the winter to the moun- 
tains to hunt, on their promise to return in the spring and 
plant again. This request Carleton did not approve. Instead, 
the military again issued rations. 72 From this plea and from 
his report to the Commissioner in 1863, one can see that 
Superintendent Steck had a good deal of confidence in the 
Mescalero. He pointed out in his report that the Mescalero 
had formerly lived at peace under Spanish rule, that from 
1854 to 1860, when they were supplied with food, they 
farmed and were quiet, and that but for the influx of miners 
upon the discovery of gold in their vicinity and the Texan 
invasion, they would still, in all likelihood, be at peace. 73 

General Carleton had now begun extensive operations 
against the Navaho, and his plans for the Bosque Redondo 
and for the Mescalero were considerably altered. To return 
the Mescalero to their former home did not fit well with his 
plans for opening the Territory to white farmers and miners, 
and he therefore decided to keep these Apache permanently 
at Fort Sumner. 74 Furthermore, he now decided to send the 
Navaho to the same reservation as fast as they could be 
overcome. This plan met with the opposition of Superin- 
tendent Steck, who went to Washington and endeavored, 
without success, to have the Navaho kept on a reservation 
in their own country. To Steck' s proposal that council be 
held with the Navaho, Carleton's angry rejoinder was, "It 
is mockery to hold councils with a people who are in our 
hands and have only to await our decisions." 75 In September, 
General Carleton sent fifty-one Navaho men, women, and 
children to the Bosque Redondo. He seemed to think that, 
because they spoke related languages, the two tribes should 
live together on the best of terms. Here, he said, the young 
could be trained and the old ways, which he thought of as 
murderous and thieving, would be forgotten. 76 

Since the Mescalero were in that very year helping to 
fight the Navaho, General Carleton should have realized that 

72. Reeve, op. cit., 265. 

73. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1863). 

74. Reeve, op. cit., 264. 

75. Twitchell, op. cit., Ill, 369-70. 

76. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 112, 113 (1863). 



18 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

his hopes for the future were over-optimistic. Some Navaho 
were engaged by a few members of a troop of cavalry at a 
place about thirty-five miles from Fort Sumner. Assisting 
the troops were thirty Apache warriors from the Bosque 
Redondo. In this foray several Navaho were killed, and a 
good deal of stock was recovered from them which they had 
seized in Mora County. Chiefs Cadete and Blanco especially 
distinguished themselves. The Mescalero had volunteered 
for this service and had fought without hope of reward. 77 

But not all the Mescalero were occupied in enterprises 
so helpful to the Americans. A Mexican wagon train from 
Socorro, Texas, was attacked in March by a party of In- 
dians who escaped into the Sacramento Mountains. A com- 
pany of New Mexico Volunteers and a party of Mexicans 
from Tularosa pursued them in vain. The arrows found on 
the scene were said to be of Apache manufacture. A Ruidoso 
rancher was killed in May by a party of Indians, and a fight 
between some citizens and an Apache band occurred in the 
San Andres that same month. 78 The mail express between 
Fort Stanton and Santa Fe was attacked, and other similar 
episodes occurred, so that a company which had been as- 
signed to the Navaho campaign had to be kept at Fort 
Stanton instead. 79 

With the arrival of more and more Navaho prisoners, 
the situation at the Bosque Redondo became increasingly in- 
tolerable. Pests, hail, and drought ruined the crops; ade- 
quate tools, seeds, blankets, and clothing were not supplied 
by the Indian superintendency ; diseases, communicated by 
the whites, killed many Indians. There were now over nine 
thousand Navaho and about five hundred Mescalero on the 
reserve of 40 square miles which Steck had said was ade- 
quate for only a limited number of Apache. Carleton's cam- 
paigns continued, and eventually even a few Western Apache 
were sent to Fort Sumner. There was little wood, and the 
alkaline water was considered to be very poor. The Mes- 
calero corn was purloined by the Navaho, and the reserva- 



77. Twitchell, op. cit., Ill, 421. 

78. Burton, op. cit., 402, 403. 

79. Sabin, op. cit., II, 709-10. 



MESCALERO APACHE 19 

tion was twice raided by roving Navaha bands. Intertribal 
battles occurred. There were no houses, and holes were 
ordered dug, so that the Indians might be sheltered from the 
wind. 80 General Carleton's contribution in this situation of 
mass misery was a good deal of advice to the effect that the 
Indians should be too proud to murmur at what could not 
be helped. He protested that hail, frost, and crop failure 
could not be foreseen, and that hard work in the future could 
remedy the present evil. Dunn has best expressed the an- 
swer to General Carleton's professed good intentions in a 
brief sentence: "When a man is restrained of his liberty, 
or deprived of any right, for the purpose of benefiting him, 
there is no extenuation except he be in fact benefited, or, at 
least not injured." 81 Sabin remarks that what had been 
planned as a reservation community where Indians might 
benefit by the white man's culture "turned out to be only a 
concentration camp of prisoners." 82 

A proposal that some of the prisoners go out with the 
soldiers against the Kiowa and Comanche, who were ac- 
cused of having robbed the supply trains carrying goods to 
the Bosque Redondo, aroused little interest among the Mes- 
calero and the Navaho. 83 

In 1865 worms again destroyed the crops. General Carle- 
ton's admonition that the Indians must understand what a 
dreadful year it was and that they must save as much as 
possible to keep from starvation fell on the ears of men who 
knew how to look after themselves if they were given any 
chance to do so. Now they began to take that chance. Since 
midwinter a few Apache had been slipping away from time 
to time. In July a large party under Ganado Blanco broke 
away. They were pursued and driven back. In August, the 
Western Apache left. 84 Then, in November, all but nine of 
the Mescalero departed from the reservation and returned 
to their former territory. 85 

80. Sabin, op. cit., II, 726-27 ; Dunn, op. cit., 386, 465-68. 

81. Dunn, op. cit., 468-69, 470. 

82. Sabin, op. cit., II, 726. 

83. Ibid., 730. 

84. Dunn, op. cit., 470. 

85. Reeve, op. cit., 266 ; Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 145, 149 
(1866). 



20 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

In this year, Felipe Delgado, who agreed with General 
Carleton's ideas and policies, succeeded Steck as superintend- 
ent of Indian affairs. 86 In answer to President Andrew John- 
son's order of June 9, 1865, recommending the suppression 
of Indian slavery in New Mexico, Delgado protested that 
captives had been purchased from various Indian tribes be- 
cause of Christian piety on the part of whites who wished 
to educate them in the ways of civilization. 87 

Lack of funds to finance a campaign against them left 
the Mescalero free to roam through their old territory for 
the next three or four years. 88 Their agent, Lorenzo Labadie, 
reminded the Washington office that the Mescalero had been 
peaceful their first year at the Bosque Redondo and had 
begged to be separated from the Navaho after the latter had 
arrived. He recommended putting the Jicarilla Apache and 
the Mescalero together at Fort Stanton. 89 

The year 1868 saw the final failure of the Bosque Re- 
dondo scheme, with the removal of the Navaho to their for- 
mer territory. 90 This same year the Chiricahua Apache were 
settled on the Ojo Caliente Reservation in the present Grant 
County, where they stayed until 1877. 91 

The Mescalero had returned to their former ways of life 
and were reported to be on good terms with the Lip an 
Apache whom they often met on buffalo hunts. Both tribes 
acted together against the Comanche and other tribes. 92 
Now and then the Mescalero accomplished a rather spec- 
tacular raid, as on the occasion when they seized 1,165 
head of cattle from John Chisum, one of the first cowmen 
in New Mexico. The herd had been destined for Fort Sum- 
ner, but was driven by the Apache to the Guadalupe Moun- 
tains. 93 

Unknown to the Mescalero, new forces were at work 

86. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 162 (1865) ; Dunn, op. cit., 470. 

87. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 165 (1865). 

88. Reeve, op. cit., 266. 

89. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 140 (1866). 

90. Dunn, op. cit., 471. 

91. Twitchell, op. cit., II, 438. 

92. John C. Cremony, Life Among the Apache, 21 (A. Roman & Co., New York, 
1868). 

93. Twitchell, op. cit., V, 281. 



MESCALERO APACHE 21 

which would soon alter their lives profoundly. Not only 
were cattle kings entering the Southwest, but treaties of 
1867-68 were opening the way across the continent for the 
railroads. 94 

In 1869, control of the Indians of New Mexico was trans- 
ferred to the army. 95 Lieutenant A. G. Hennisee was sta- 
tioned at Fort Stanton, but the Mescalero avoided the fort 
and the soldiers. Apparently the only members of the tribe 
encountered at all were four or five Indians seen by accident 
by some troops who went as far as Fort Bliss. Labadie, at 
Agua Negra, New Mexico, also reported that no Mescalero 
had visited that agency. 96 

When Grant became President in 1869, he adopted a new 
policy in Indian affairs, delegating the nomination of Indian 
agents to the various religious organizations interested in 
Indian missions. Members of the Society of Friends and 
army officers were chosen for many posts. 97 He also au- 
thorized the organization of a Board of Indian Commis- 
sioners. Under an Act of Congress of 1868, two million dol- 
lars had been appropriated to enable the President to main- 
tain peace among the various Indian tribes ; to promote the 
civilization of the Indians ; to bring them, when practicable, 
upon reservations; and to relieve their necessities and en- 
courage them to become self-supporting. The Board of In- 
dian Commissioners, consisting of not more than ten eminent 
men to serve without pecuniary compensation, was to exer- 
cise joint control with the Secretary of the Interior over the 
disbursement of the fund. 98 

Vincent Colyer, the member of the Commission who vis- 
ited the Southwest, pointed out that the Apache had former- 
ly been at peace with the Americans and that in 1858 and 
1859 they had been making rapid progress in the "arts of 
civilization." He blamed the later trouble and wars on the 
adoption of what he termed "the Mexican theory of exter- 



94. Nevins, The Emergence of Modern America, 1865-1878, 110 (Macmillan Co., 
New York, 1927). 

95. Reeve, op. cit., 267. 

96. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 244, 246 (1869). 

97. Schmeckebier, The Office of Indian Affairs, 54 56-57. 

98. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 4 (1869). 



22 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

mination" and charged that the Americans had made the 
Apache their foes by "acts of inhuman treachery and 
cruelty." 99 

In 1870, the Mescalero and Southern Apache agencies 
were consolidated. Lieutenant Hennisee was trying to make 
contacts with the Mescalero and reported that fifty-one of 
the tribe had come in. He hoped to use them to communi- 
cate with the others and so finally to settle them all on a 
reservation. But no chiefs had arrived as yet, and Hennisee 
thought the suspicious Mescalero were sending only a few 
persons to test his sincerity and to observe what treatment 
they received. The attractions at the agency do not seem to 
have been very great, however, for there was little shelter 
or clothing to offer the Indians and such scanty rations that 
they felt they must raid to live. 100 

Military control was brought to an end in this same year, 
and A. J. Curtis, a protege of the American Unitarian As- 
sociation, was appointed to the Mescalero agency in 1871. 101 

At Fort Stan ton, Curtis found only twenty-seven mem- 
bers of the tribe, Jose La Paz and his band. This group had 
been pursued and brought in after two soldiers had been 
killed the preceding winter. Now they were sent out to bring 
back the rest of the tribe, some of whom they said were in 
Comanche country. Cadetta (obviously another spelling of 
the name of the chief mentioned before in these pages) 
agreed to come in with his group. A treaty was drawn up 
with him, promising protection, a school, and land for culti- 
vation, if the Mescalero would remain at peace on a reser- 
vation. They were to be allowed to keep any stock they had. 
There were now 325 Mescalero at Fort Stanton, and a party 
was sent to Comanche country to find others. Two Jicarilla 
leaders even arrived to confer about the possibility of join- 
ing the Mescalero on their reservation. 102 

Though the agreement with Cadetta is spoken of in the 
Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs as a treaty, 
1871 marked the end of the treaty-making period. There- 

99. Twitchell, op. cit., II, 484. 

100. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 159-60 (1870). 

101. Reeve, op. cit., XIII, 267. 

102. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 400-04 (1871). 



MESCALERO APACHE 23 

after no tribe was to be recognized as an independent na- 
tion with whom the United States might contract by treaty. 
The Indians were declared thenceforth to be "wards" of the 
United States, to be dealt with by Congressional enact- 
ment. 103 

Though all was now comparatively peaceful in Mescalero 
territory, it was in this year that General Crook was assigned 
to the Command of the Department of Arizona and began 
his campaign against the Chiricahua Apache under Co- 
chise. 104 In the ensuing operations, General Crook employed 
friendly Indians as scouts, and in this capacity they were 
of great assistance to the regular troops. 105 Later, Mescalero 
scouts joined these forces. 

Various groups had been coming in to Fort Stanton for 
about a year now, many of them from Comanche territory. 
The agent reported in 1872 that there were included at the 
Fort Stanton Agency, 830 Mescalero, 440 Aguas Nuevos, 
350 Lipan, and 310 Southern Apache (Eastern Chiricahua 
Apache) whose proper home was the Tularosa Reservation. 
He adds that the presence of the latter was disagreeable to 
the Mescalero, and that there was trouble between the two 
groups. 106 Cadete, the leader who had helped gather the 
Mescalero at Fort Stanton, was mysteriously murdered in 
La Luz Canyon in November on his way home from Mesilla. 
It was believed that he had been killed by Mexicans against 
whom he had testified when they were tried for selling 
whiskey to the Indians. 107 

In the winter, a first attempt at defining the reservation 
boundary was made. An executive order, dated May 29, 
1873, designated a reservation along the eastern slopes of 
the White and Sacramento Mountains for the Mescalero 
Apache. 108 

At this time, the Fort Stanton region was under the 



103. Macleod, op. cit., 536. 

104. Martin F. Schmitt, ed., General George Crook: His Autobiography, 159-60 
175 (University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1946). 

105. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 263 (1873). 

106. Ibid., 53-54, 298. 

107. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1873, 263. 

108. Reeve, op. cit., 268 ; Kappler, op. cit., I, 870-71. 



24 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

domination of Murphy and Company, the firm which acted 
as post traders. Curtis was completely in their power. The 
company profiited greatly by exaggerating the number of 
rations issued to Indians. In 1871, about 400 Indians were 
receiving supplies ; by spring, 1873, the number on paper had 
risen to 2,679, an increase which astonished the new agent, 
Samuel B. Bushnell, who set about to break the hold of the 
trading company. 109 

Complaints were coming in from settlers that the Mes- 
calero were stealing their stock. The officials felt that the 
Indians were not yet familiar with the boundaries of their 
new reservation and should not be treated too harshly in 
this matter, especially since it was evident that the Mes- 
calero felt that the country was theirs and that the settlers 
should pay them tribute. However, Major W. R. Rice, com- 
mander of troops in southern New Mexico, decided to take 
immediate action. He arrested Santa Ana, brother of the 
chief, Roman, and held him as hostage for the return of the 
stolen horses. The result of this action was that all but about 
two hundred of the Mescaleros left the reservation. 110 A pass 
system must have been in operation, for there is a record of 
passes issued to six men at the request of Roman to go out 
and hunt for the Apache belonging to, but absent from, the 
reservation. 111 

By the following year, the next agent, W. D. Crothers, 
was able to report that most of the Indians had returned 
and that there were now 600 in or near the reservation. With 
the reserve itself, the Mescalero expressed some dissatisfac- 
tion which resulted in a new executive order dated February 
2, 1874, increasing the arable land east of the mountains 
and adding to the hunting grounds on the west slope of the 
Sacramentos. 112 The Southern Apache were now removed 
from Tularosa to a reservation on the site of their former 
home at Hot Springs. 113 

In the preceding year, it had been the Mescalero who 

109. Reeve, op. cit., 270-71. 

110. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 263-64 (1873). 

111. Twitchell, op. cit., Ill, 439. 

112. Kappler, op. cit., I, 871-72 ; Reeve, op. cit., 268-69. 

113. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 134 (1874). 



MESCALERO APACHE 25 

^V JLt 

were accused of "depredations;" this year the situation was 

reversed, and it was the white settlers who raided the In- 
dians. A band of citizens not only stole Mescalero horses, 
but attacked a Mescalero encampment on the Pecos and 
killed men, women, and children. According to the agency 
reports, this affray occurred within hearing of the military 
who excused their noninterference by saying they thought 
the Indians were fighting among themselves. The Mescalero, 
in terror, fled to the mountains. Their flight was construed 
by the citizens as "taking to the war path." The military 
now pursued the Mescalero, who fled before them, abandon- 
ing their camps, clothing, and provisions. Another raid on 
the Apache occurred in January, 1875, and this time the 
white citizens bragged that they had taken three scalps. 
More Apache fled to the mountains with the military in pur- 
suit. Such a state of general lawlessness existed that Croth- 
ers, the Mescalero agent, armed his employees and a few 
other citizens who wanted to preserve order on the reserva- 
tion. Meanwhile he made every attempt to find the Indians 
and bring them in. An employee, two citizens, and an In- 
dian guide finally found them, starving and in need of 
clothing. 114 

During these troubled months, Murphy tried to get rid of 
Crothers through trumped-up charges, but the district at- 
torney dropped the case. But Crothers found himself under 
censure from the Secretary of War who charged him with 
dereliction of duty in the matter of the killing of Indians on 
the reservation by the raiders. A special investigation fol- 
lowed. Though the evidence seemed to favor the agent, he 
later resigned. 115 

By now the vast, impersonal forces of white civilization 
were making themselves felt even in the far west and were 
bringing changes that made more impossible each day such 
flights and retreats to old Apache ways as had just occurred. 
More and more easterners were taking up homesteads in 
the west. The Desert Land Act of 1877 would throw open 

114. Colonel Martin L. Crimmins, "Colonel Buell's Expedition into Mexico in 1880," 
NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, X, 133 (April, 1935) ; Reeve, op. cit., 272-73; Report 
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 39, 329-30 (1875). 

115. Reeve, op. cit., 273. 



26 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

to settlement New Mexico Territory, Arizona Territory, 
Utah Territory, and Colorado Territory. In 1874, the first 
barbed wire went on sale. Now the huge buffalo herds, di- 
vided by the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad, were 
nearing their end. Although buffalo hunting had been one 
of the chief industries of the southwestern plains from 1870 
to 1874, the southern herd had passed out of existence by 
1875. The opening of the Northern Pacific Railroad was to 
cause the extermination of the northern herd by 1880. 116 
With terrifying suddenness, the economic basis of Mescalero 
society was being destroyed. With the extinction of the buf- 
falo herds and the coming of fenced cattle ranches, the old 
life of wild game hunting and wild plant gathering was no 
longer possible. 

An executive order of October 20, 1875, once again re- 
defined the reservation boundaries, including this time cer- 
tain grasslands in the White Mountains. 117 F. C. Godfrey, 
who had succeeded Crothers as agent, found the Mescalero 
"courageous" yet "tractable" and "susceptible of kindness." 
He noted that they nearly all spoke Spanish in addition to 
their native tongue and that several chiefs, "fully alive to 
the importance of the subject," had requested that a school 
be opened. 118 

Trouble with the surrounding citizens continued, and the 
Mescalero lost more horses, some of which were recovered 
from a band of horse thieves at Puerta de Luna. 119 Some 
feuds with the Chiricahua Apache at Hot Springs also took 
place. 120 

In August, a band of Mescalero arrived from Mexico and 
brought word of another group which had left the agency 
in June. From later reports, it seems likely that the bands 
which had deserted the agency were those of Natsile and 
Pinoli. A new method to assure their return was tried. One, 
J. A. Lucero, was to be paid $1.50 per man and $1.00 per 
woman or child to bring them back to the agency. Lucero 

116. Webb, op. cit., 230, 413 ; Nevins, op. cit., 113-14. 

117. Kappler, op. cit., I, 872 ; Reeve, op. cit., 269. 

118. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 106, 107 (1876). 

119. Ibid., 108-9. 

120. Bancroft, XII, 743. 



MESCALERO APACHE 27 

was quite successful on this mission and brought in 147 
persons, many of whom were in a destitute condition. 121 

In January, 1877, a school was started at the Mescalero 
Agency, now located at South Fork, New Mexico, 
pox epidemic greatly reduced the number of pupils 
the next three months and caused much suffering. 

Though the Indians were now staying quietly on the res- 
ervation and were engaging in more agricultural activities 
than in times past, they were not to be left to follow such 
pursuits undisturbed. A band of invaders, described as 
"Texans" in the agency report, raided the Indian camps in 
July and again in August, stealing horses each time. The 
military pursued them without success. 122 

Peaceful life on the reserve was further menaced by the 
outbreak in 1878 of the Lincoln County War between two 
factions of settlers. The agent was favorable to the faction 
headed by Murphy and Dolan and, after many accusations, 
was discharged. His successor was so much alarmed by the 
stories of conditions in Lincoln County that he never got 
nearer the agency than Santa Fe, and S. A. Russell was sent 
to take over the post. That the danger of working at the 
Mescalero Agency had not been greatly exaggerated was 
soon evident. The agency clerk, Bernstein, attempting to 
keep the Indians' stock from being stolen, was killed by 
Billy the Kid, who belonged to one of the warring factions. 123 

The Jicarilla Apache had agreed to join the Mescalero at 
Fort Stanton, but only thirty-two arrived. The rest were 
too much alarmed by news of the war in Lincoln County to 
venture into that part of the country. Their objections 
seemed so reasonable that no effort was made to force them 
to go there. Indeed, the Mescalero themselves felt far from 
safe on their reserve, and many fled to the mountains. Es- 
trella's and Peso's bands visited the agency only when they 
were very hungry and needy. 124 

121. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 155-56 (1877) ; 288 (1900) ; 
Twitchell, op. cit., Ill, 439 ; Reeve, op. cit., 274. 

122. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 156-57 (1877). 

123. Reeve, op. cit., 274, 276 ; George P. Hammond and Thomas C. Donnelly, The 
Story of New Mexico, 125-26 ("University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1936) ; 
Twitchell, op. cit., II, 423. 

124. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, xl-xli, 107 (1878). 



28 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Attempts had been made in the past two years to abolish 
the reservation that had been set aside for the Chiricahua 
bands and to remove the Indians living upon them to San 
Carlos, Arizona. These forced removals met with great re- 
sistance, and the Indians who refused to cooperate were 
termed renegades. Pursued by the military, they would be 
captured and taken to San Carlos only to break out and flee 
again to the mountains. It was finally decided to remove one 
of these renegade bands under Victorio to the Mescalero 
reserve, but Victorio was not willing to come. 

However, in June of 1879, Victorio and his men did come 
to the reservation and began arranging to have their wives 
and children brought from San Carlos. In July, Victorio 
was indicted for horse stealing and murder. When, a few 
days later, a judge and a prosecuting attorney visited the 
reservation, presumably on a hunting trip, Victorio believed 
that he and his band would shortly be arrested. Accordingly, 
the band left the reservation immediately. During the next 
few months, they were successful in a good many skirmishes 
with the troops who had been sent after them. Russell re- 
ported that by April of 1880 two hundred or more Mescalero 
had joined Victorio and added that the fifty or sixty men 
involved "were of course of the worst Indians belonging to 
this agency." 125 

Now, to the great alarm of the Mescalero, who thought 
that perhaps they too were to be sent to San Carlos, Colonel 
Hatch arrived with 1,000 troops and Indian scouts. The In- 
dians were induced to come together, and Colonel Hatch had 
a talk with Chief Natsile on the evening of April 12, 1880. 
Afterward, he informed the agent that he intended to dis- 
arm the Mescalero and seize their stock. Since the Indians 
had assembled in good faith, Russell protested, but Colonel 
Hatch was acting under orders from General Pope and was 
not to be dissuaded. 

The next morning, over two hundred horses belonging to 
the Mescalero were seized, and men, women, and children, 
after being searched, were confined in a corral where the 

125. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, xxxviii-xl (1878) ; 114 (1879) ; 
129 (1880). 



MESCALERO APACHE 29 

old manure was three to five inches deep. In all, fourteen 
persons were shot and of those who were killed, one was the 
father of Natsile. These events were doubly tragic in that 
they occurred after the agent "had repeatedly assured them 
that those who remained faithful and did as requested would 
be well treated, and their horses put in my hands." For the 
next four months the Mescalero were under guard and were 
treated as prisoners. During that time, they constantly ques- 
tioned their agent as to why they were held, how long they 
would be confined, and whether they would be paid for their 
horses. 126 

Meanwhile, Victorious band had been further reinforced 
by about one hundred renegade Comanche and was making 
raids throughout the southern part of New Mexico. It is in- 
teresting to note that General Pope, himself, considered that 
the sole cause of this outbreak was the determination of the 
Department of the Interior to remove the band to San Carlos. 
He pointed out that they had given no trouble so long as 
they were allowed to live at the Warm Springs Agency. Dunn 
quotes Pope as follows: "Both Victorio and his band are 
resolved to die rather than go to the San Carlos Agency, and 
there is no doubt, it will be necessary to kill or capture the 
whole tribe before present military operations can be closed 
successfully. The capture is not very probable, but the kill- 
ing (cruel as it will be) can, I suppose, be done in time. I am 
trying to separate the Mescaleros from Victorio, and yet 
hope to do so, but there is not the slightest prospect that 
Victorio or his band will ever surrender under any circum- 
stances." 127 

Apparently, nothing came of General Pope's efforts to 
disentangle the Mescalero elements from Victorio's band. 
But it was the Mexican troops who finally defeated Victorio 
in 1883, in the Tres Costillos Mountains. Victorio and eighty- 
six of his warriors were killed ; Chief Nana and some fifty 
warriors escaped; eighty-nine women and children were 



126. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 130 (1880) ; 289 (1900) ; 
Reeve, op. cit., 278 ; Twitchell, op. cit., Ill, 440. 

127. Op. cit., 741-42. 



30 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

captured and were later exhibited in Mexico City, where 
most of them died. 128 

The three hundred or so Mescalero who were confined 
as prisoners of war on their reservation were allowed, in 
September, 1880, freedom of movement within a radius of 
eight miles of the agency. Others were brought in through 
military pressure and through promises that they would be 
protected and would be given arms for hunting and stock. 
Individuals who objected too strongly to these plans were 
threatened with confinement at Leavenworth. 129 

In spite of the strict surveillance kept over the Mescalero, 
violent episodes occurred from time to time. In one instance, 
in revenge for the murder of one of their number, some 
Mescalero burned a wagon train belonging to a Mexican. 130 

In 1881, Major H. H. Llewellyn came as agent to the 
Mescalero. He reported that Chief Roman Tcikito, who was 
friendly to the government, had been falsely accused by the 
Santa Fe newspapers of being out with a war party. In this 
year, an Indian police force was organized, consisting of 
fifteen members. 131 

Though conditions were far from quiet in Lincoln Coun- 
ty, which was still over-run with outlaws and mining pros- 
pectors, other influences were at work in the Territory. In 
January of 1881, the Albuquerque Indian School was opened, 
"intended especially for Pueblos and Mescalero Apaches." 
A few children were sent to this school from the Mescalero 
Reservation the next year. Since these were the first Mes- 
calero children ever to leave the tribe to be sent away to 
school, it was with some difficulty that the agent persuaded 
the chiefs to let them go. 132 

Again in 1882, the reservation boundaries were some- 
what changed, an area on the north and west being thrown 
open and an area added on the east. According to Llewellyn, 
this change was made to satisfy the white population of the 

128. Crimmins, op. cit., 142 ; Twitchell, op. cit., II, 439-40. 

129. Reeve, op. cit., 278. 

130. Twitchell, op. cit., Ill, 439. 

131. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 136 (1881). 

132. Lillie G. McKinney, "History of the Albuquerque Indian School," NEW MEX- 
ICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XX, 120 (April, 1945) ; Report of the Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs, 124 (1882). 



MESCALERO APACHE 31 

Nogal mining district where gold had been discovered. In 
this year also, the Mescalero and Jicarilla agencies were con- 
solidated with headquarters at Mescalero, a plan to remove 
the Mescalero to the Jicarilla Reservation having been con- 
sidered, but rejected. 133 

The new Indian police force proved its value when a 
small group of renegades arrived with stolen stock. In at- 
tempting to arrest them, the police killed three of the party 
and saved the lives of the agent, the physician, and the clerk 
by their prompt action. Llewellyn was wounded twice in 
the arm, in this affair. 

As the presence of the agency physician indicates, the 
Mescalero were now not entirely dependent upon their own 
ceremonies and cures for medical care. The diseases report- 
ed to be prevalent among them were measles, digestive ail- 
ments, tuberculosis, other pulmonary ailments, and some 
malaria. Five hundred and eighty were vaccinated against 
smallpox. 134 

An executive order of March 24, 1883, made some further 
changes in the boundary of the reservation. 135 Now the 
Jicarilla Apache arrived after traveling a distance of 502 
miles in forty-seven days from Amargo. Their trip had been 
saddened by the loss of six persons who died of smallpox on 
the way. The two Apache groups seemed to be on good 
terms, but the Three Rivers band of Mescalero had to be 
restrained from forcibly evicting some white settlers from 
their lands. The next year, it was decided that the Indians 
were entitled to these lands. 136 

Fifty of the Apache, including the chief San Juan, went 
to Santa Fe in July to attend the tertio-millenial celebration. 
There, San Juan is said to have made a speech complaining 
of the treatment accorded the Mescalero by the government. 
But the helpful white man who claimed to know Apache 
and offered to interpret for San Juan, instead of translating 

133. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Ixvii, 123 (1882) ; Kappler, 
op. cit., 872-73. 

134. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 124, 125-26 ( 1882 ) . 

135. Kappler, op, cit., I, 873 ; Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 
LXIV (1883). 

136. Ibid., LXV, 116 (1883) ; 132 (1884). 



32 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

the chief's remarks, delivered an address he had himself 
prepared. However, San Juan must have found other inter- 
preters, for President Ladd of the University of New Mex- 
ico, who was interested in the Indian Industrial School De- 
partment of the university, attributed the specific impulse 
to found such a school to a plea made by San Juan at this 
same celebration. 137 

The day school on the reservation was still operating, 
and there were plans for a boarding school to accommodate 
thirty pupils. The boarding school opened in the following 
year with 15 students, 1 teacher, a matron, and a cook. Now 
white influence penetrated further with the arrival of the 
first missionary. Padre Sombrano of Lincoln County visited 
the agency and baptised 173 of the Indians. 138 

Apache beliefs were not, however, weakening, and one 
of the agent's problems was to keep his wards from burning 
those accused of witchcraft. Llewellyn kept his head quite 
well in these situations. He was a man with some sense of 
history and remarked wryly in his reports that the Indians 
were only a little over a century behind the Puritans in this 
matter, so that it should not seem too strange a custom. 139 

In 1885, a court of Indian Offenses was functioning on 
the reservation with two Mescalero and one Jicarilla con- 
ducting the hearings. It is, perhaps, surprising that the 
numbers should not have been reversed, since there were 721 
Jicarilla and only 462 Mescalero residents on the reserve. 140 

By now, as we have seen, the Mescalero were completely 
subdued. Their warfare with the Americans, their raids, 
their attempts to return to the old life, were over. However, 
this was not true of the Chiricahua Apache, for this was 
the period when Geronimo and his followers were being pur- 
sued first by General Crook and later by General Nelson A. 
Miles. A few of the Mescalero became involved in these dis- 



137. /bid., 116 (1883) ; Henry O. Flipper, "Early History of El Paso," Old 
Santa Fe, II, 95 (1914) ; Frank D. Reeve, "The Old University of New Mexico," NEW 
MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, VIII, 206 (July, 1933). 

138. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 117 (1883) ; 133 (1884). 

139. Ibid., 118 (1883). 

140. Ibid., 149, 152 (1885). 



* 

T; 33 



turbances, some with Geronimo, but many more as scouts 
helping the army to bring him in. 141 

Upon the surrender of Geronimo, General Miles treated 
all concerned with a harshness and injustice which have to 
this day never been forgotten nor forgiven by the Chiricahua 
and the Mescalero Apache. He not only sent Geronimo and 
his followers to captivity in Florida, but in addition, he 
rounded up all the Chiricahua men, women, and children 
who had remained at peace and sent them also to Florida 
as prisoners. Included with these blameless ones were the 
Chiricahua and Mescalero scouts who had done more than 
anyone else to capture and bring in Geronimo and his band 
of hostiles. The men who had enlisted as scouts and who 
had so recently undergone the hardships of desert warfare 
side by side with American soldiers, found themselves pris- 
oners of war at Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida. In 
1888, renegades, peaceful Apache, and scouts were all re- 
moved to Mount Vernon Barracks near Mobile, Alabama, 
still as prisoners of war. 142 

The relatives, at Mescalero, New Mexico, of the scouts 
who were thus unjustly held, did what they could to get them 
released. In 1888, four or five of these men with their fami- 
lies were allowed to return. In 1889, the agent reported that 
about fourteen Mescalero were still held in confinement in 
Alabama and urged their release. 143 Over the years they re- 
turned, a few at a time, to the reservation. 

In 1887, the Jicarilla Apache, who had never become 
completely adjusted to living with the Mescalero, began to 
leave the reserve in groups. About two hundred of them 
camped in a starving condition near San Ildefonso Pueblo. 
Since there was fear of serious trouble if any attempt was 
made to return them to the Mescalero Reservation, a reser- 
vation was set aside for them in the northern part of New 
Mexico. The Mescalero expressed no regret at their de- 

141. Ibid., 40 (1886) ; 289 (1900). 

142. Schmitt, op. cit., 265-91. 

143. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 255 (1889). 



34 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

parture but entertained some fear that they might sometime 
be, themselves, removed. 144 

Whether the attitude of the new agent toward the In- 
dians had anything to do with the decision of the Jicarilla 
to leave cannot be said for sure, but his handling of the 
school situation certainly antagonized the Mescalero. Find- 
ing that the boarding school was not well attended, and 
being unable to persuade the chiefs to send in any more chil- 
dren, Agent Cowart sent detachments of the police to visit 
the camps unexpectedly and seize children of school age. He 
thus describes the results of this policy : "The unusual pro- 
ceeding created quite an outcry. The men were sullen and 
muttering, the women loud in their lamentations, and the 
children almost out of their wits with fright." Feeling that 
the "civilization" of the Indian, "like that of the Negro and 
the other inferior races," could be kept up only by constant 
contact with Caucasions, he disapproved of allowing the 
children to return to their camps even in the summer. 145 

The next agent was a good deal more lenient and did not 
appear to be infected with his predecessor's notions of su- 
perior and inferior races. He showed some trust in the 
people, allowing them to have iron buckets which had been 
denied them formerly for fear they might use them to make 
corn beer. 146 

And so things were to go on for many years, with some 
agents forcing what they considered to be "civilization" 
upon the Mescalero, others trusting the Mescalero to make 
their own adjustments, but all of them steadily trying to 
destroy the culture of the Mescalero and to replace it by 
customs and modes known and approved in white American 
society. The most determined of the "civilizers" was un- 
doubtedly V. E. Stottler, who forced the men to cut their 
hair and clothe themselves like white men, repressed the 
making of corn beer, allowed no Indian dances to be held, 
abolished the Court of Indian Offenses, and kept the children 
in the boarding school over the summers where they were 

144. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Ixxii-lxxiii, 167 (1887) ; Kap- 
pler, op. cit., I, 875. 

146. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 199-200 (1886). 
146. Ibid., 254 (1889). 



MESCALERO APACHE 35 

"put at industrial work." He got the men working at a saw- 
mill and encouraged the building of wooden houses. He gave 
the job of hauling supplies from Las Cruces to the Indians 
and was satisfied with their performance. He kept the po- 
lice busy herding cattle, returning run-away school pupils, 
clearing ditches, working at the sawmill, and acting in gen- 
eral as examples of industry and order. At this time, the 
Mescalero population was 450, and they had 500 acres of 
fenced land under cultivation. Stottler urged the govern- 
ment to extinguish the claims of certain settlers who had 
managed to get land within the reserve, so that 400 more 
acres might be added. Five thousand sheep were purchased 
and issued, and Stottler even brought in a few expert Nava- 
ho blanket weavers to instruct the Mescalero in carding, 
spinning, dyeing, and weaving. 147 

During this long and trying period, the peyote cult, which 
had diffused northward from the Indians of Mexico, flour- 
ished among the Mescalero, and the fears, frustrations, and 
aggressions of individuals flared in charges of witchcraft 
and power theft revealed in the visions induced by peyote. 148 

In 1899, the Mescalero became self -sustaining to the point 
where rations and annuities were cut off except to old or in- 
capacitated persons. Marriages and divorces were handled 
and recorded by the agency office. School attendance was 
compulsory for children, and a number of adults were even 
reported to have attended a night school. The baseball nine 
had won several games. An attempt was made to substitute 
picnics and Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas 
celebrations for Indian dances. 149 But this is not the bright 
picture that it may have seemed in the eyes of ambitious 
agents of the government. It must be remembered that all 
of this was achieved against great resistance, under duress, 
and without any faith or confidence on the part of the har- 
rassed Mescalero population. The new way of life was not, 
as yet, flourishing enough to give hope. The first field matron 



147. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 209-12 (1896) ; 193 (1897). 

148. Macleod, op. cit., 529 ; Morris Edward Opler, "The Influence of Aboriginal 
Pattern and White Contact on a Recently Introduced Ceremony, the Mescalero Peyote 
Rite," Journal of American Folklore (1936). 

149. Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 291 (1900) ; 281-83 (1901). 



36 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

to visit the Mescalero found them "miserably poor," living 
with few rations on tiny farms and preserving themselves 
from starvation by the sale of curios. 150 In addition, tuber- 
culosis was prevalent, and the mortality rate from this cause 
was unusually high. 151 

The Chiricahua Apache had been removed from Alabama 
to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In 1913, with the approval of the 
Mescalero, the Chiricahua were transferred from Oklahoma 
to the Mescalero Reservation. The Mescalero felt that the 
addition of over two hundred Apache would help them to 
hold their entire reserve and prevent it from being opened 
to settlers. 152 

The major events in the history of the Mescalero Apache 
since that date have roughly paralleled modern American 
history. Their men went with our men to the first World 
War. As a people, they suffered in the ensuing influenza 
epidemic. They were overwhelmed by the depression of the 
30's and worked under the relief programs that were set up. 
Their young men fought beside our other young men in 
World War II. The first experimental atomic bomb was ex- 
ploded in the desert not far from their homes. They have 
lived their past bravely and will meet the years to come with 
a philosophy often differing from that of white Americans, 
but with its own profundities and resources. 



150. Ibid.. 283 (1901). 

161. Ibid., 253 (1902) ; 216 (1903). 

152. Annual Report, Board of Directors, Indian Rights Association, 19-20 (1918). 




Frederick E. Phelps 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS: A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 
Edited by FRANK D. REEVE 

Introduction 

According to "the old leather bound Bible," Frederick E. 
Phelps was born in Saint Mary's, Ohio, on October 8, 1847. 
His grandfather had been an eminent lawyer and supreme 
court judge in Connecticut. His father, Edward Marshall 
Phelps, secured his education by working his way through 
Kenyon College, Ohio. Language teacher, lawyer and farmer, 
Edward Phelps was never financially successful. Lucinda 
Phelps, Frederick's mother, graduated from the University 
at Norwalk, Ohio. Her son wrote that she was a person of 
great moral strength and intelligence, and guided the house- 
hold so cleverly that the family was scarcely aware of her 
control. 

Captain Phelps' childhood and youth were spent in Saint 
Mary's or on one of his father's farms nearby the village. He 
retained many pleasant memories of the days spent swim- 
ming, fishing, hunting, and ice skating in the ponds and 
woods so easily accessible. Hunting was his favorite sport 
and one in which he excelled. Because of his skill he was 
able to earn some of the money he needed to go to West 
Point and later, in New Mexico and Texas, to supplement 
the army diet which, at best, was limited. 

In the summer of 1865, he left home for the first time. 
It was difficult, but he would not have missed the opportun- 
ity for anything. Fortune had provided him with a relative, 
Frank C. Le Blond who, as a member of Congress, secured 
an appointment to West Point for him, thus fulfilling a 
childhood ambition for the young man. 

Phelps was a soldier through and through. His reminis- 
cences of West Point reveal his respect for the dignity of 
that institution, even when telling his escapades. His demo- 
cratic ideals are best indicated by his approval of the "haz- 
ing" of first year students. This activity, he said, tended to 
"level," because one was subjected to it without consideration 

37 



38 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

for family position. He participated in, and enjoyed, the 
pranks of yearlings and plebes. He remembers standing 
sentry duty at his first encampment. It was common practice 
to annoy the sentry, if possible. At this particular time, 
someone was throwing a pillow at him. He threatened to 
bayonet the pillow the next time it was thrown and did. 
After ripping it open and scattering the feathers far and 
wide, he learned that it was his own pillow ! As punishment 
for such unseemly conduct, he spent every free moment for 
the next month picking up feathers on the camp grounds. 
He was conscientious, too, studying hard and late, maintain- 
ing a soldierly attitude and being proud of his accomplish- 
ments. Through Secretary of War Edward M. Stanton, who 
had been his father's roommate at Kenyon College, he was 
reappointed to the Academy after having failed in mathe- 
matics during his first year. This failure was a great disap- 
pointment to him, but unavoidable, since the subject was 
difficult and he had not been well prepared. He finally gradu- 
ated on June 15, 1870, thirty-seventh in a class of fifty-eight. 
This standing, he wrote, was in part the result of having the 
maximum number of demerits allowed fourth year men. 

At Christmas of 1863, Phelps met Maria L. Patrick of 
Urbana, Illinois, when she was visiting her cousin in Saint 
Mary's. Though he didn't see her from that time until his 
graduation, they corresponded regularly and were married 
in the summer of 1870. As soon as he was located in New 
Mexico, he sent for his bride. She journeyed to her army- 
post home only to be buried there a few years later. 

In the spring of 1888, when the 8th Cavalry made its 
famous march from Texas to Dakota Territory, Phelps left 
the Southwest. Then his health and that of Mary's (sister 
to Maria), his second wife, made it necessary for them to 
leave Fort Yates, Dakota Territory, for the East to consult 
doctors. As a result of the physical examination which 
found him unfit for active duty, he was retired April 20, 
1891. Mrs. Phelps died in February, 1892. 

Captain Phelps married Anna Louise Rawlings and set- 
tled down in Saint Mary's. Time lay heavily on his hands 
with nothing to do and with no special interest other than 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS : A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 39 

the Army. After several business ventures, which were 
unsuccessful, he accepted a position as Instructor in Mili- 
tary Tactics and Science at the Agricultural and Mechanical 
College of North Carolina at West Raleigh. From this col- 
lege his oldest son, Fred, graduated in 1904. Unable to ob- 
tain an appointment to West Point, young Fred enlisted and 
won his commission through the ranks, which pleased his 
father very much. 

Because of Mrs. Phelps' health the family returned to 
Ohio for awhile. In 1907, after requesting duty with the 
Army, Captain Phelps was placed in charge of the recruiting 
office in Pittsburg, and two years later was appointed Quar- 
termaster. He thus rounded out his last years in the service 
that he loved, the United States Army. 

During his tour of duty in Pittsburg, he dictated his 
memoirs to his secretary incorporating in them material 
composed at an earlier time. Five copies were made, one for 
each member of his family. The copy here printed was se- 
cured from his daughter, Mrs. S. H. Eyler, El Paso, Texas. 
The early part of the manuscript, dealing with his boyhood 
days, is not printed, nor the part relating to his life after 
leaving Texas. The picture that he presents of army life on 
the Southwestern frontier covers those years when the con- 
flict with the Indians was running its final course, a time 
now fading from the living memory but recorded for future 
generations in such writings as the memoirs of Captain 
Phelps. 

Preparing a text for publication is a tedious task, but in 
this case much helpful assistance has been received from 
Miss Caroline Brentari, a graduate student in the Depart- 
ment of History, University of New Mexico. 

ON the 19th of July, 1870, I was married to Maria L. 
Patrick in her old home at Urbana [Illinois], and we 
spent the summer at Urbana, Saint Mary's, and Celina, 
where my sister Mollie lived. In August I received notice 
from the War Department that I was promoted from cadet 
to Second Lieutenant, 8th Cavalry, to date from June 15, 
1870, the day of my graduation, and that I was assigned 



40 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

to Troop A. Before we graduated, we were allowed to send 
in a request for the branch of service we desired, and our 
choice of regiments in that branch. I had read a book about 
New Mexico, and knowing that the 8th Cavalry was sta- 
tioned there, I asked for that regiment. I soon found that 
my troop was stationed at Fort Craig, 1 New Mexico, and my 
order directed me to report on or before October 1st at 
my station. I could not find out, or at least did not find out, 
whether there were any quarters there or not. So in Sep- 
tember I left my wife behind me and went to Louisville, 
Kentucky, where I met my classmates, who were assigned 
to the same regiment, Wood, Godwin, Williams, Cox, Cobb, 
and Fountain, and also met there Kerr, 2 , who was assigned 
to the 6th Cavalry, now a retired Brigadier General, and 
Hodgson, 3 who was assigned to the 7th, and was killed in 
the Custer massacre. Wood and Godwin had also been mar- 
ried and had their wives with them. We proceeded to Fort 

1. Fort Craig was established in April, 1854, about ten miles north of Fray Cristo- 
bal, near the beginning of the dangerous and dry route of travel known as the Jornada 
del Muerto. It was on the right bank of the Rio Grande in townships 7 and 8 south, 
ranges 2 and 3 west. General John Pope recommended in 1870 that it be abandoned, 
but it was not until March 3, 1885, that the War Department relinquished control of 
the site by transferring it to the Department of the Interior. 

2. Edward Edgar Wood was born in Pennsylvania. He served with the rank of 
sergeant in the Pennsylvania Cavalry from September 8, 1862, to July 22, 1864, and 
was mustered out with the rank of Lieutenant, August 7, 1865. 

Edward Allison Godwin was born in Virginia. He served in the West Virginia 
Cavalry from February 13 to July 8, 1865. 

Richard Algernon Williams was born in Pennsylvania. 

Robert Edward Coxe was born in Alabama. He resigned from the Army September 
3, 1874. 

Edmund Monroe Cobb was born in Massachusetts. 

Samuel Warren Fountain was born in Virginia. He served in the Ohio Infantry 
during the Civil War was May 2 to September 3, 1864. 

The above five soldiers were classmates of Phelps, graduating from the United 
States Military Academy and receiving commissions as 2nd Lieutenants, 8th Cavalry, 
June 15, 1870. 

John Brown Kerr was born in Kentucky. He graduated from the United States 
Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 6th Cavalry, June 15, 1870. 
He received the medal of honor for action against Sioux Indians, January 1, 1891. 

3. Benjamin Hubert Hodgson, friend and classmate of Captain Phelps, was born 
in Pennsylvania and graduated from the United States Military Academy. He was 
commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 7 Cavalry, June 15, 1870, and was killed in the battle 
of the Little Big Horn, June 25, 1876. 

During one phase of the battle, Major Reno ordered a retreat, making it necessary 
to ford the nearby river in order to reach the opposite hilL "Lieutenant Hodgson's 
mount was hit and sank. He grasped a trooper's stirrup and was pulled through but 
as he gained the farmer shore, an Indian bullet killed him." Fairfax Downey, Indian- 
Fighting Army, p. 205 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1941). 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS I A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 41 

Leavenworth to report to the Department commander, 
Major General John Pope, 4 and in a few days we took the 
train for Kit Carson, 5 Colorado, from which place we were 
to go down into New Mexico by coach, but on arriving at 
Kit Carson, we found encamped there two hundred recruits 
under a Captain Keller 6 enroute for New Mexico. The next 
day Wood and his wife, Godwin and his wife, and Cobb took 
the coach for Fort Union, 7 New Mexico, and the rest of us 
were to follow the next day, but Captain Keller telephoned 
to Fort Leavenworth 8 and asked that we be assigned to duty 
with the recruits to march down. This suited us exactly. 
He started with his men the next morning before we had 
received a reply, but during the day the telegram came di- 
recting us to report to him for duty and assigning for our 
use a six-mule team and wagon. There was an officer on 
duty at Kit Carson, as Commissary, and from him we pur- 
chased a supply of canned stuff; about four o'clock in the 
afternoon we started out to over-take the command. We 
had no arms, except Williams, who had a little four-barreled 
revolver, carrying a twenty-two cartridge, and I had an army 

4. John Pope was born in Kentucky, March 16, 1822. He graduated from the 
United States Military Academy in 1842 and was commissioned Brevet 2nd Lieutenant, 
Topographical Engineers. He distinguished himself in the War with Mexico and in 
the Civil War ; he attained the rank of Major General, October 26, 1884. General Pope 
directed the work of Army engineers in drilling for water in the arid Southwest. He 
commanded the Department of the Missouri 1870 to 1884 and retired from active service 
two years later. He is sketched in Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography (New 
York: D. Appleton and Company, 1888). 

5. Kit Carson is located in Eastern Colorado. It was the railroad terminus for 
travelers to New Mexico when Phelps was there. 

6. Jacob William Keller was born in Prussia. He volunteered for service in the 
Union Army during the Civil War and was mustered out with the rank of Captain, 
January 26, 1864. He re-enlisted as 2nd Lieutenant, July 28, 1866, and retired with 
the rank of Captain, December 15, 1870. 

7. Fort Union was established in 1851, either in late July or early August, by 
Colonel E. V. Sumner, in a more suitable location than Santa Fe for headquarters and 
a supply depot. It was located on the Santa Fe trail by way of Raton pass, about ten 
miles north and west of the junction of the Sapello and Cebolla creeks which unite 
to form the Mora river, and on the west side of Turkey mountain, Latitude 35 54' 
and Longitude 105 9'. The post and timber reserve covered 66,880 acres. In Phelp's 
term of service in the Southwest, the Fort was headquarters for the 8th Cavalry. For 
an early description see Secretary of War, Report, 1852, p. 75. 32 cong., 2 sess., Ben. 
ex. doc. 1, pt. 2 (659) ; Ass't Surgeon J. Letterman, Sanitary Report, October, 1856, 
pp. 221f. 36 cong., 1 sess., sen. ex. doc. 52 (1035). 

8. Fort Leavenworth was established in 1827 on the Arkansas river for the 
protection of travelers on the Santa Fe trail. It was abandoned after the Civil War. 
A brief description can be found in The Southwest Historical Series, ed., Ralph P. 
Bieber, II, 101 and III, 122 (The Arthur H. Clark Co.: Glendale Calif., 1932 and 1935). 



42 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

revolver, which an officer there asked me to take down to 
my Post and turn it over to the commanding officer there, 
it having been taking away from a deserter. At that time 
the Comanches were on the war-path, but I don't suppose 
it occurred to any of us that we were taking big chances. 
Darkness soon came, but the driver knew the road ; we had 
gotten out about ten miles when we saw the flash of a gun 
off to our right and three shots followed in succession. We 
did not know what to make of them, but in a few moments 
heard an undoubtedly Irish voice yelling for us to stop. We 
accordingly halted and called to him ; in a few moments one 
of the recruits, a wild Irishman named McCarthy, joined 
us, scared nearly out of his senses. Some way he had wan- 
dered away from the command and was lost and seemed 
exceedingly glad to join us. We arrived at the encampment 
about nine o'clock and reported to Captain Keller. Not one 
of us had a blanket or buffalo robe, and we had no tents, 
but we were young, vigorous, full of life, and managed to 
get through the night. There was a contract doctor with the 
command; and he had in some way lost his blankets and 
invited me to sleep with him in the ambulance. We shivered 
all night long in the keen October air, and the next morning, 
to our disgust, found four woolen blankets under the seat, 
of which we knew nothing. The recruits marched over the 
old overland trail, 9 making from twelve to twenty miles per 
day, according to the supply of water. Captain Keller ap- 
pointed Cox as Adjutant and gave him a pony to ride, while 
the rest of us, except one, who marched with the troops, 
rode in the wagon. Captain Keller had an ambulance of his 
own for himself and family, for he brought his wife and 
two children with him. He was a plain, blunt soldier, and 
a good one, but completely under his wife's thumb. She 
never addressed him by name, but always spoke to and of 
him as "Commanding Officer," and it used to amuse us im- 
mensely to hear her call out to him, "Commanding Officer, 
supper is ready." He also had with him a Second Lieuten- 
ant of Infantry, named Cottell. 10 We had formed our own 

9. They were following a route southward from the Smoky Hill route to Denver 
to connect with the old Santa Fe trail as Fort Lyon. 

10. Hampden Samuel Cottell was born in Maine. He enlisted in the 15th Illinois 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS : A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 43 

mess and invited him to join it. We found a soldier who 
was willing to cook what little we had to cook, and we got 
along all right. When we arrived at Fort Lyon, 11 Colorado, 
we at once bought blankets and soldier over-coats, and drew 
two wall tents for our use. While at this Post I was going 
up one night from out camp to call upon some officers and, 
in attempting to jump an irrigation ditch, severely sprained 
my right ankle which completely disabled me for three or 
four weeks. I had brought a shot gun with me; there was 
plenty of game, prairie chickens, ducks, and snipe, but I 
could not walk and none of the other officers cared for hunt- 
ing, so we lived on ham, potatoes, coffee and soggy bread, 
for our cook could not make good light bread. However, 
this bothered us but very little, and we gladly marched on 
and in due time arrived at Fort Union, New Mexico. Here 
Captain Keller turned back and Lieutenant Cottell was as- 
signed to the command of about one hundred of the recruits, 
who were to go on down to southern New Mexico to the 
various posts. Godwin and his wife here joined us. Our party 
then consisted of Godwin and his wife, Williams, Cox, and 
myself; Cobb, Wood, and Fountain had joined their troops 
at Fort Union. We had splendid weather. Cottell was easy 
to get along with and we had a pleasant march to Fort Craig. 
Here I joined my troop. I found thatmy Captain was A. B. 
Wells. 12 My First Lieutenant was named Hunter, 13 but he 

Infantry, May 24, 1861, and was mustered out with the rank of Captai^, June 3, 1864. 



He re-enlisted for the third time, June 18, 1867, with the rank of 2nd L'fejSfca&ant. He 
was assigned to the 15th Infantry, August 3, 1870, and retired from actif service, 
February 29, 1876. 

11. William Bent built New Fort Bent in 1854 and sold it to the Federal govern- 
ment in 1859. It was renamed Fort Wise in honor of Governor Henry Wise of Virginia. 
After the secession of Virginia, the Fort was renamed Lyon in honor of General 
Nathaniel Lyon of Civil War fame. Undermined by floods from the Arkansas river, 
it was moved to a new site about six miles northeast of Las Animas. The Reservation 
embraced 5,874 acres. It was turned over to the Department of the Interior December 
2, 1889. 

Biographical sketches of General Lyon are in The National Cyclopaedia of Ameri- 
can Biography and the Dictionary of American Biography (hereafter referred to as 
DAB). 

12. Almond Brown Wells was born in New York. He joined the Nevada Cavalry 
with the rank of 1st Lieutenant, July 13, 1863. Mustered out after the War, he re- 
enlisted as 2nd Lieutenant in the 8th Cavalary and attained the rank of Colonel, 1st 
Cavalry, February 2, 1901. 

13. Pendleton Hunter was born in Michigan. He was commissioned 2nd Lieuten- 
ant, 8th Cavalry, October 12, 1867, and promoted to 1st Lieutenant, May 1, 1870. He 
was mustered out, January 1, 1871. 



44 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

was absent on a scout. Captain Wells informed me that he 
was to go away at once on a board to purchase horses, and 
that I would have command of the troop until one of them 
returned. I was assigned for quarters to one-half of an adobe 
building consisting of three rooms with mud roof and mud 
floor and not a stick of furniture. I had never been in com- 
mand of a company, of course, but was lucky in having 
an excellent first sergeant. I frankly told him that I knew 
little or nothing about company papers and that he must 
guide me in these matters; under his instructions, I soon 
became proficient in making out company papers. Lieuten- 
ant Hunter had part of the troop with him, but there were 
about eighty men held there ; two days after my arrival, the 
first sergeant informed me that there had been no drill for 
sometime and the men were getting rusty in mounted drill. 
I immediately informed him that we would have mounted 
drill the next morning at ten o'clock. Cavalry officers in 
those days had to purchase their own horses, but as I had 
not as yet had an opportunity to do so, I told the sergeant 
to send one of the troop horses up to my quarters, which 
I would use until I could find one that would suit me. The 
next morning I came out of my quarters in undress uniform 
and found an orderly trumpeter holding his horse and mine. 
I noted that the horse was what is called "wall-eyed," that 
is, nearly the whole of the eyeball was white, and I knew 
from my experience at West Point that a white-eyed horse 
generally had a bad temper; so I carefully examined the 
cinch, the bridle, and all the equipment. Stepping up along 
side of the horse to mount I noticed that he cast one eye 
back toward me, and I knew at once that if I mounted in 
the usual manner by placing the left foot in the stirrup he 
would try to throw me off before I could get fairly seated 
in the saddle ; but my West Point drill came to my aid and, 
without touching the stirrup, I made one bound and landed 
squarely in the saddle. Before he could recover from his 
astonishment I had both feet in the stirrups and was ready 
for him. He immediately commenced to buck, that is, he 
would arch his back like a bow, spring up into the air two 
or three feet and come down with all four of his feet together, 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS I A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 45 

stiff legged, which, if the rider is not prepared, generally 
throws him off the horse, but after bucking around for a few 
minutes, he found that he could not unseat me and immedi- 
ately bolted. Fort Craig was then one of the most desolate 
posts on the frontier. It was situated on the edge of a plain, 
twelve or fifteen miles wide, and almost perfectly level, cov- 
ered with gravel and scarcely a bush. The Post consisted, 
like all frontier Posts at that time, of a number of buildings 
scattered around a square, and these buildings were con- 
nected by an adobe wall perhaps three feet high, not as a 
defense, but to keep stray cattle out of the parade ground. 
The first sergeant had marched the troop out on the plain 
and it was waiting for me, perhaps a mile away. I noticed a 
grin on the face of the trumpeter, a little devil named Young, 
but one of the best soldiers in the troop, and I soon found 
that the horse was not headed for the gate, but straight for 
this adobe wall, and I suppose that Young expected to see 
me thrown off, but as we approached the wall, I "gathered" 
my horse, and he took the wall with a flying leap, followed 
closely by Young and his horse. We went skimming across 
the plain toward the troop. As I approached the troop I 
saw a broad smile on the face of every man. When within 
about one hundred feet I drew sharply on the reins, the 
heavy bit stopping the horse almost instantly ; sliding on all 
four feet, he came to a dead stop just about the regulation 
distance in front of the troop. The first sergeant saluted 
and reported the troop "all present," so drawing saber I 
commenced drilling them. I saw at once that some kind of 
a job had been put up on me and if ever a troop got a good 
grinding drill, A Troop did that day. 

It was a very hot day and for two hours I never gave 
them a moment's rest; by the time the drill was over, they 
were heartily sick of it and anxious to get back. Marching 
them to within one hundred yards of the Post, I directed the 
first sergeant to march them to the stable and dismiss them ; 
motioning to the trumpeter to follow me, I put my horse 
straight at that same adobe wall, cantered across the parade 
ground to my quarters and dismounted. The next morning, 
when the first sergeant brought me the morning report, I 



46 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

asked him who rode that horse, for in a cavalry troop each 
man has a horse assigned to him, and no one else rides him. 
He told me that it was an extra horse and not assigned to 
anyone. I asked him why he selected that particular horse 
for me; looking a little embarrassed, he informed me that 
the troop had insisted that he should assign that horse to 
me to see if I could ride. New officers joining were generally 
called "Johnny come lately" by the men, of course, in pri- 
vate; officially they were addressed as "Lieutenant." He 
was considerably embarrassed and finally told me that there 
was only one man in the troop who could ride that horse with 
any comfort, but that he guessed that the men had discov- 
ered that "the Lieutenant could ride as well as any of them," 
and volunteered the information that I had "made good," as 
he called it. 

I told him that I would keep the horse until I purchased 
one of my own, and I rode him a good share of the time for 
the next six or seven years, in fact, as long as I was with 
the troop. I purchased a horse of my own shortly, but for 
drill and scouting I used this troop horse and I never rode a 
better one. I got along very well with the troop and in about 
a month Lieutenant Hunter returned from his scout. I found 
him a pleasant, jovial, red-headed little man who bore a fine 
reputation as a scouter and Indian fighter. Unfortunately 
for him, he was a very hard drinker and left the troop to 
my care ; we got along very nicely, but he did not last long. 
The Army had been reduced from forty-five regiments of 
infantry to twenty-five; on the first day of January, 1871, 
all vacancies in the cavalry were filled by transfer from the 
unassigned list, and an order was issued to get rid of worth- 
less officers. The commanding officer of each regiment had 
been directed to send in the names of those officers who ought 
to go out ; Hunter was one of them, and on that day he was 
mustered out of the Army with one year's pay. I never saw 
him again but once. Four years afterward, I was at Las 
Animas 14 and entered a barroom of a hotel to purchase a 
cigar; there, behind the bar, as a barkeeper, stood my old 



14. Las Animas is located in southwestern Colorado on the south side of tne 
Arkansas river. 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS I A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 47 

First Lieutenant. I spoke to him, but he looked me straight 
in the eye and told me that I was mistaken, that his name 
was not Hunter, and that he had never seen me before. I 
knew, of course, that it was him, and that he was evidently 
"down at the heel," but still had pride enough not to wish 
to be recognized, so I said nothing, and have never seen or 
heard of him since. *^/C / 

Captain Wells was at that time a comparatively young 
man, not yet thirty, who had served in the Nevada Volunteer 
Cavalry during the war, had been appointed First Lieutenant 
in the 8th Cavalry when the regiment was organized in 1866, 
and had just been promoted to Captain when I joined. He 
was not married at that time, but inside of a year married 
a lady at Santa Fe, the daughter of a Surveyor General 15 of 
the territory of New Mexico, a sweet motherly woman to 
whom I was always much attached, and whom I have not 
seen since 1888. He was a man of good education, but had 
a peculiarity that made it hard to serve with him at times, 
and that was his exceeding jealousy of the officers of his 
troop. He expected us to obey his orders absolutely and, of 
course, that was right ; but the slightest variation or exceed- 
ing of an order, the doing of anything however slight with- 
out first consulting him, made him savage in a moment, and 
this peculiarity made him a hard man to get along with. He 
was a magnificent drill master, very proud of his troop, but 
knew little how to manage money matters and the troop fund 
was always indebted to him for, to do him justice, he never 
hesitated to advance his own money to purchase anything in 
the shape of provisions, vegetables, etc., if needed in addi- 
tion to the ration. The ration, in those days, was not what it 
is now. Fresh beef was furnished seven days out of ten, 
but was poor and tough. Vegetables were absolutely un- 
known in New Mexico at that time; from 1870 to 1874, I 
do not remember ever seeing an Irish potato, and sweet 
potatoes only once. Besides the beef, the men had bacon 
three days out of ten, salt fish, bread baked daily, which was 

15. Probably the daughter of T. Rush Spencer, Surveyor General of New Mexico 
in 1870 and very likely in 1871. James K. Proudfit took the office in early October, 
1872. I have no direct reference for the year 1871. 



48 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

good, and now and then a little canned stuff, and that was 
all. It was hard living, and yet we were in no way to blame 
for the nearest railroad was nearly five hundred miles away 
at Kit Carson. The country around was a desert and it was 
impossible apparently to raise anything, at least we never 
succeeded in doing so. In November, I was ordered back to 
Fort Union in command of a number of teamsters, with 
empty wagons, and an escort of four or five men. I immedi- 
ately wrote to my wife to join me there by Christmas. On 
arrival at Albuquerque I met Fountain, who had come down 
from Fort Wingate 16 with another train from there, and we 
went on to Fort Union together. New Mexico is elevated so 
high that the winters are very severe and from Albuquerque, 
for nearly a week, we plodded through snow perhaps a foot 
deep. I had an ambulance that the Quartermaster of Fort 
Craig had furnished me to bring my wife down, and Foun- 
tain, of course, rode with me. We arrived at Fort Union the 
day before Christmas, but I found no wife, only a letter 
stating that she could not start until the end of the month, 
when she came by coach, I meeting her some fifty miles north 
of the Post. She had come from Kit Carson, the only pas- 
senger in the coach, and had been alone with the conductor 
and driver for two days and two nights, but the conductor 
had been exceedingly kind and courteous to her and she got 
along very well. I immediately started back to my own post 
and arrived there about the first of March, but had not been 
there more than ten days when I was ordered to take com- 
mand of an escort to take convicts up to Fort Union; of 
course, I had to leave my wife at Fort Craig alone, and when 



16. There were two Fort Wingates in New Mexico. Old Fort Wingate was 
located southwest of Mt. Taylor on the Gallo, a short stream flowing northward into 
the Rio San Jose. The site was selected by Colonel Canby in the summer of 1862 and 
the Fort was probably established by Lieut.-Colonel J. Francisco Chaves, late in that 
year, in preparation for Colonel Carson's campaign against the Navahos the following 
year. 

New Fort Wingate was located at Ojo del Oso, or Bear springs, on the north end 
of the Zufii mountains, near the headwaters of the Rio Puerco of the West, in Latitude 
35 29', Longitude 108 32'. (Old Fort Lyon was located there in 1860-1861). A 
reservation of 100 square miles was set aside by Executive Order February 18, 1870, 
and establishment of the post was authorized that same year. 

For a description of New Fort Wingate in 1880, see Joe Wasson in NEW MEXICO 
HISTORICAL REVIEW, V, 279 (July 1930). Also Secretary of War, Report, p. 526. 63 
cong., 2 sess., vol. 1 (Washington, 1893). 



FREDERICK E. P HELPS : A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 49 

I had almost arrived at Fort Union, I received orders to 
return to Santa Fe with my prisoners and to proceed to Fort 
Wingate with them, one hundred miles west of Santa Fe. 
When I got back back to my Post on the third day of July, I 
found my troop had been transferred to Fort Bayard, 17 New 
Mexico, and she had gone with the Captain and Mrs. Wells. 
I followed as soon as possible, and one boiling hot day in 
July rode into old Fort Bayard, which was to be my station 
for the next five years. When Lieutenant Hunter was mus- 
tered out, his place was taken by William Stephenson. 18 He 
was a thin, spare man over six feet in height, had been in 
the army a number of years as a soldier, and was promoted 
from the ranks. He was one of the finest rifle shots I ever 
saw, and possessed an almost uncanny success in fishing. 
They used to say that he could catch more fish in a stream 
where no one else could ever get a bite than we could use, 
and I never saw as successful an angler. 

When I arrived at Fort Bayard, it was certainly a deso- 
late looking place. No building in the post was more than 
one story, most of them built of adobe and scattered in an 
irregular square, around a square, the officers then being on 
the west side. Officers are given quarters according to rank, 
and I soon found that I was the junior officer at the Post; 
if it had not been for Stephenson, who gave me his quarters, 
I would have had to go into a tent. To be sure the quarters 
did not amount to much, but he cheerfully gave me what 
he had and went into a tent himself, and for this courtesy we 
never forgot him. I had only two rooms, but we put up two 
tents in the rear for a dining room and a kitchen, and, hav- 
ing youth and health with us, we were very happy. A 
description of the Post I afterwards wrote in an article 
which will be found in the next chapter. 

17. Fort Bayard, named in honor of Captain George D. Bayard who died in service 
during the Civil War, was established, August 21, 1866, to protect miners in the Pinos 
Altos district against Apache Indians. It was located about nine miles northeast of 
Silver City, southwestern New Mexico, Latitude 32 48' and Longitude 108 9'. The 
reservation was established by Executive Order, April 19, 1869, and embraced an area 
of 8,840 acres. The last garrison was withdrawn, January 2, 1900, and the plant has 
been used as a Government hospital since then. 

18. William Stephenson was born in England. He enlisted as a private in the 
Union Army during the Civil War. He attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant, December 
2, 1868, and retired from active service, April 23, 1879. 



50 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

From 1871 to 1876 I was stationed at Fort Bayard, a 
lonely, isolated post in the extreme southwest corner of New 
Mexico, one hundred miles west of La Mesilla, 19 on the Rio 
Grande. Nestled at the upper end of a beautiful valley, it 
was on the north protected from the winter blasts by the 
towering peaks of the Sierra Diablo, and on the east by the 
broken crags of Santa Rita, in which lie the famous Spanish 
copper mines. 20 On the south, a long, narrow valley term- 
inates in a winding canon leading out into the open plain, 
a canon dangerous at all times (for the trail of the Apaches 
from the Rio Negro 21 to the Gila led through it), and on 
the west it is bounded by rolling hills covered with the beau- 
tiful crow foot grama grass. 22 

The locality was all that could be desired ; the Post every- 
thing undesirable. Huts of logs and round stones, with flat 
dirt roofs that in summer leaked and brought down rivulets 
of liquid mud : in winter the hiding place of the tarantula and 
the centipede, with ceilings of "condemned" canvas ; windows 
of four and six panes, swinging, door-like, on hinges (the 
walls were not high enough to allow them to slide upward) : 
low, dark and uncomfortable. Six hundred miles from the 
railroad at Kit Carson, Colorado, with nothing to eat but 
the government rations beef, bacon, coffee, sugar, rice, 
pepper, salt, and vinegar, together with a few cans of 
vegetables divided pro rata, old Fort Bayard was the "final 

19. The Dona Ana Bend colony was established in the Mesilla valley by Jose Maria 
Costales in 1843. After the United States annexed New Mexico in 1848, settlers at 
Dona Ana who preferred to retain their Mexican citizenship moved across the Rio 
Grande and founded the town of Mesilla. P. M. Baldwin, "A Short History of the 
Mesilla Valley," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XIII, 314-324 (July, 1938). For a 
description of the town in 1880, see Joe Wasson, op. eit. 

20. The famous Santa Rita copper mine is located in the southern part of the 
Pinos Altos mountain, southwestern New Mexico. It was worked at least as early 
as 1804 by the Spanish. For an early description see J. R. Bartlett, Personal Narrative 
... I, 178f, 227f (New York, 1854) ; and S. W. Cozzens, The Marvellous Country. 
p. 51 (Boston, 1891). Its history is told in John M. Sully, "The Story of the Santa 
Rita Copper Mine," Old Santa Fe, III, 133-149 (1916). 

21. Phelps must mean the Rio Miembres, or perhaps the Rio Grande. The Rio 
Negro is too far west to fit this description. 

22. Crow foot grama grass is a perennial which affords good pasturage for 
stock in the arid Southwest. For a discussion of the various grama grasses see 
Leslie N. Goodding, Notes on Native and Exotic Plants in Region 8, p. 17 (Albuquerque, 
New Mexico : United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 
Region 8, 1938). 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS I A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 51 

jumping off place" sure enough, I thought, as I first rode into 
it in the summer of 1871. 

My house consisted of one room and a kitchen, the front 
room twelve feet by ten. One wall was built of stones picked 
up on the adjacent hillside, one was of adobe (sun dried 
brick) , one of pine logs, set on end, and the fourth of slabs 
from a sawmill. The floor was of rough boards, a foot wide ; 
the ceiling of canvas, the roof of mud, the front door of two 
boards on wooden hinges with a wooden latch, one window, 
with four panes of glass, the sash immovable this was the 
parlor. 

Back of this, and connecting with it by a doorway with- 
out a door, was a smaller room with no window and a floor 
of hard, smooth mud. To tell the truth, the whole thing was 
originally built for a stable. Poor as these rooms were, they 
were a Godsend to me ! Quarters in a garrison are assigned 
according to rank, and being the junior officer at the Post, 
I would have had to go into a tent had not a bachelor officer, 
with that gallantry so characteristic of the military profes- 
sion, insisted upon my taking these two rooms, while he 
went into canvas. But putting up two tents, one for a dining- 
room and one for a kitchen, we made ourselves quite cosy 
and comfortable. 

When Troop A of the 8th Cavalry was ordered to Bayard 
from Fort Craig in the spring of 1871 23 for field service, 
the Captain brought with him his newly-won bride, a woman 
of women, whose sweet face and gracious manner had en- 
deared her to the regiment, whose presence she has graced 
for all these years ; and the young, slender, blond-whiskered 
Second Lieutenant brought with him the bride of his youth, 
who had given up home and friends in the far-distant Ohio 
and bravely followed her husband to that lonely station 
which she was destined never to leave, for from that desolate 
place her pure soul took its flight to the God who gave it. 

The First Lieutenant was a veteran, rising from the 
ranks of the old 13th Infantry, and transferred to the 8th 

23. The settlers in southwestern New Mexico were much disturbed over Indian 
affairs at this time. For a brief discussion see the NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, 
XIII, 289ff (July, 1938). 



52 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Cavalry in the general shake up of January, 1871. He stood 
six feet two in his stockings, as slender as a telegraph pole, 
with long blonde moustache and thin gray locks of hair, al- 
ways carefully brushed to cover that bald spot that would 
show ; he was a deadly shot with a rifle, and had an almost 
uncanny skill in coaxing fish to bite; slow of speech, and 
more afraid of ladies than anything under the sun, he walked 
with that peculiar sway that betrays the man who has lived 
in the saddle, for though he had long been in the infantry 
he had served all his military life on the frontier, and had 
always owned his saddle horse. In the Post an omnivorous 
reader and smoker, in the field a pushing, energetic scouter 
and fighter, such was the commander under whom I was to 
make my first scout, "old Pard" Stephenson. 

In the summer of 1872, General Thomas C. Devin, 24 
Lieutenant Colonel 8th Cavalry, was in command of the 
Post. He was a grizzled, gray and iron-willed old man, one 
of Sheridan's Hard Hitters. In July he sent for Stephenson, 
who was in command of the troop, the Captain being at 
Santa Fe as a member of a big general court martial, and 
gave him his orders for a scout to beat up the country to 
the west and southwest, to see if there were any Apaches off 
their reservation, 25 and, if we found any, to "clean 'em out" 
if we could. 

We were to carry fifteen day's rations, and for that pur- 
pose five or six pack mules were furnished us, or rather five 
or six mules from the Post Quartermaster's herd, for if one 
of them had ever been "packed" he had forgotten all about 
the pleasure of it, and retained all his native tricks and man- 
ners. However, we got off at four P. M., and so did most of 
the packs by four-thirty, but by means of much pulling, tying 

24. Thomas Casimer Devin was born in New York. He began service in the 
Union Army with the rank of Captain, New York Cavalry, July 19, 1861, and was 
mustered out January 15, 1866, with the rank of Major General. He re-enlisted that 
same year in the regular Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Cavalry. He attained 
the rank of Colonel and died April 4, 1878. He is listed in Appletons' Cyclopedia of 
American Biography and H erring shaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography. 

25. The Apache reservation at this time was located at Canada Alamosa, north- 
west of present day Hot Springs, New Mexico. The people in southwestern New 
Mexico accused the Indians of depredating and retreating to the security of the 
reservation. The story is told in the NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XIII, 261ff 
(July, 1938). 



FREDERICK E. P HELPS I A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 53 

and some cussing, we made them stick on somehow for the 
first twelve miles when we went into camp, or rather bivouac, 
for we carried no tents. 

That night, after we had eaten our frugal supper of cold 
bacon and bread, and had swallowed a quart of black coffee 
"strong enough to float an egg," we lay on our blankets, 
smoking our fragrant pipes, and Stephenson was telling me 
his plans, when suddenly there was a crash in a neighboring 
thicket; a snort of fear, a trampling of hoofs, and in a 
second every man was on his feet, for we all knew what 
was up a stampede of our horses. Something in the bushes, 
maybe a frightened deer or skulking coyote, had startled one 
of the horses picketed to a bush; with one strong pull up 
came the bush by the roots, and tearing through the herd, 
scattered here and there where they could pick grass all 
night, the bush swinging at the end of his lariat like a flail, 
he soon stampeded the whole crowd. Lariats broke, bushes 
came up root and branch, and in a second away they went 
(except four or five, which, having had reputations for just 
such work, had been securely tied to trees, and whose lariats 
tied about their necks, being new and stout, held them fast) , 
rushing through the brush like a hurricane, leaving us para- 
lyzed with disgust, and worse still, afoot. 

There was nothing to be done until daylight; no man 
could follow in that rough country in such a dark night, arid 
we knew they would go straight back to Bayard. At the first 
peep of day I was after them with all the men we could 
mount, and picked them up along the trail, for as they 
became separated in the darkness some had stopped and 
finally gone to grazing, but most of them we found as we 
expected, in their own corral at Bayard. Sneaking in the 
back way we drove them out quietly, hoping no one would 
see us, but as we turned the corner of the corral there was 
"old Tommy." What under the sun ever did escape those 
piercing blue eyes? With ears tingling with shame under 
the cruel, rasping sneer he flung as I rode past him. "Well 
young man, you have made a FINE start for a cavalryman," 
I hurried out of the Post and away to the awaiting troop. 

Sarcastic, biting as was his tongue, savage as was his 



54 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

manner, we loved the old campaigner and feared him as, I 
opine, we did not fear the Almighty, yet gloried in him; 
when the eyes that rested kindly and proudly on him who 
did his duty and glared like a tiger at the dead beat and 
shyster had closed in the last long sleep, his regiment 
mourned as they have never mourned since, and the memory 
of "old Tommy" will always abide with the "8th Horse." 
Nobody was to blame for our stampede, but all the same 
"Pard" and I had both learned a lesson we never forgot; 
every night after that one of us personally inspected the 
horses and saw that the side lines were on. The ordinary 
cavalryman hates to put them on his horse, but after he 
is left afoot once he changes his mind, and neither of us 
ever again had a stampede. 

As soon as we could get a bite to eat we were off and 
marched to and down Bear Creek 26 to Walnut springs, and 
the next day to the muddy Gila where the crumbling chim- 
neys marked the site of old Fort West. 27 From here we 
marched across to the Frisco [San Francisco] 28 river, and 
so on down through the Stein Peaks Range, 29 a desolate re- 
gion, where we struck the first "sign." This was a single 
pony track, several days old, for the edges of the depression 
made by the hoof were crumbling, and in places were almost 
filled with sand. To the uninitiated there was nothing to 
show that it was not some wandering miner's or hunter's 
pony that had made that faint trail, but to the eager eyes 
of Jim Bullard, 30 our civilian, but not civil guide (he was 

26. Bear Creek is a tributary of the Gila near its headwaters and flows in a 
northwesterly direction. 

27. Fort Floyd, probably named in honor of the Secretary of War, was established 
by Colonel Bonneville as headquarters and a supply depot for his campaign against 
the Apaches in 1857. It was located on the east side of the Gila near the junction of 
that stream with Bear Creek. Part of the troops located on the west side of the 
Gila in "Camp Union." 

This same location was probably the site of Fort West, established in January, 
1863, when General Carleton ordered another foray against the Apache. 

For an account of the Bonneville campaign see Frank D. Reeve, ed., "Puritan and 
Apache: a Diary," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XXIII, No. 4 (October, 1948) and 
XXIV, No. 1, (January, 1949). 

28. The San Francisco river rises in the extreme west-central New Mexico and 
flows southwestward into the Gila river. 

29. The Stein Peak range is in southwestern New Mexico close to the Arizona 
boundary. 

30. John and James Bullard came from Missouri in 1866 to mine and farm in 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS : A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 55 

about as morose, insolent and foul-mouthed a brute as I 
ever saw) , and to Sergeant Foster, our oldest soldier, they 
told a different tale. Foster was a slender, wiry man, an 
excellent shot, an experienced plainsman, and worth two 
Bullards. 

There was no mark of a horseshoe, and in that country 
no white man used an unshod horse, so it was an Indian 
pony. No danger of a Mexican roaming alone in the Apache 
region. It had rained heavily all over this country a week 
before. We had now been out ten days, and if these tracks 
had been made before that time they would have been oblit- 
erated. Following them a few miles, the guide suddenly 
sprang off his horse and picked up what I, in my greenness, 
supposed was an old chew of tobacco; and I was right in 
one sense, it was Apache tobacco, so to speak, a mouthful 
of roasted mescal root. 31 This is a favorite article of diet 
among the Mescalero Apaches, and when this gentlemanly 
"ward of the nation" threw away his chew after he had 
exhausted its sweetness, he little thought that eager Ameri- 
can eyes would see it and thus know that a thieving reserva- 
tion Indian had been there, where he had no business to be, 
a hundred miles away from his reservation. 

All that day we patiently followed that single track, our 
guide tracing the pony's trail over hill and plain, through 
sand and rocks, like a bloodhound; his rough, evil face set 
and dark with revengeful thoughts, for his brother had 
fallen the year before by the hand of an Apache in Kelly's 32 
fight that avenged the brutal murder of Mrs. Keerl, whose 
"but that is another story," as Kipling would say. 

Late that night we halted at a hole half filled with dirty 

the Pinos Altos mountain. They were conspicuous in the history of that section. John 
was killed in pursuit of Apaches, February 28, 1871. Bullard Peak, about 20 miles 
north of Clifton, Arizona, was named in his honor. Conrad Naegle, The History of 
Silver City, New Mexico, 1870-1886, p. 71. Ms. University of New Mexico, 1943 (Master 
of Arts thesis in History). 

31. Mescal root is from the Huachuca century plant, an important item in the 
diet of the Apaches. The Mescalero Apaches are supposed to be named after this 
food. For a discussion of Apache foods see Edward F. Castetter and M. E. Opler, 
Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest, III, 35ff, 52 (Biological Series, 
University of New Mexico, 1936. IV, no. 5). 

32. Major William Kelly led a cavalry detachment from Fort Bayard on the same 
campaign against Apaches that resulted in the death of John Bullard, but did not 
participate in the engagement when Bullard lost his life. Naegle, op. cit., p. 74. 



56 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

water, but welcome, for we had not had a drop for twenty- 
four hours, and we were half way across the San Simon 
valley. 33 Twenty miles to the west of us towered the crags 
of Mount Graham, 34 then the favorite haunt of the Apaches, 
and the trail headed straight for it. 

The early dawn found us again on the move, plodding 
over the heavy sand while the pitiless sun blazed over our 
heads. The heat reflected a hundred fold from the white 
sand drifts, with the cloudless sky bending over us, glowing 
like a sheet of brass. About noon we entered the foot-hills, 
passed through them, and about 3 P. M. halted at the foot 
of a steep hill over which the trail led, crowned with prickly 
pear and stunted bushes. Bullard, Foster, and three or four 
men proceeded cautiously to the top, and there was the object 
of our search an Apache village of eighteen wickiyups, or 
huts. This was on a steep, rocky hill, with a flat top ; at the 
foot, in the narrow canon separating the two hills, flowed 
a bright, sparkling stream, and scattered along this were a 
number of Indian women busy making their tiswin, or In- 
dian whiskey, the fermented juice of the mescal plant. 

Quickly, in obedience to a sign, Stephenson went to the 
top, crept behind a clump of bushes, and swept the ground 
with his field glasses. No chance for a surprise here. The 
only way was to go over the hill, down into the valley, and 
then up the opposite side in the face of the Indians, and 
the rascals had made a rude fortification of rocks by piling 
them along the crest behind which they could lie in perfect 
security while the advancing force must come up over open 
ground. Deliberately rising to his feet, his tall form looming 
like a flagstaff against the sky, he signalled us to come on. 

The instant he was seen a pandemonium of yells and shrill 
shrieks went up, and every squaw rushed up the hill, sending 
down the loose gravel and shale in a rattling shower. Quietly 
we climbed the hill, down the other side, halted at the little 
stream and quickly arranged the plan of attack. 
(To be continued) 

83. San Simon valley lies between the Peloncillo range (including the Stein Peak 
range) and the Chiricahua in southeastern Arizona. 

34. Mount Graham is a prominent landmark in the Pinaleno range, southeastern 
Arizona ; altitude 10,713 feet. 



CHECKLIST OF NEW MEXICO PUBLICATIONS 
By WILMA LOY SHELTON 

(Continued) 

Dry cleaning board. 

Established in 1941 ; supervises and regulates the clean- 
ing, dyeing and pressing industry of the state. 

Annual report 

July 29, 1941-July 1, 1942. 15p. (A. J. Coats) mimeo. 

Report and certificate of proceedings before the New Mexico dry 
cleaning board, v.p. 1941-1942. 

Rules and regulations . . . chap. 198, Laws of 1941, otherwise known 
as sections 51-2101 to 2116, inclusive, N. M. statutes 1941, an- 
notated. Santa Fe (1941), 33p. 

Contents : Rule No. 1 A rule to provide definitions. Rule No. 2 
A rule for collecting original registration fees and for classifying 
and collecting license fees. Rule No. 3 Rules under which new 
businesses may be established, existing business may move to new 
locations, remodel, enlarge, re-equip. Rule No. 4 (Unfair meth- 
ods of competition). Rule No. 5 (Itinerant or transient dry 
cleaner license fees). Rule No. 6 A rule to establish procedure 
for hearings. Rule No. 7 A group of rules to provide operating 
safe practices for the dry cleaning industry. Regulation No. 8 
(Housekeeping and sanitation). Regulation No. 9 Minimum op- 
erating standards below which a cleaning establishment forfeits 
its right to a license. Rule No. 10 A group of rules to guide the 
Board and Board employees. 

Rule No. 11 A rule to define dry cleaning schools and to prescribe 
regulations for the licensing and operation thereof. Effective Sept. 
15, 1948. n.p.n.d. 1 leaf mimeo. 

Rules and regulations; amend rule 2 by adding paragraph 6. n.p.n.d. 
1 leaf mimeo. 

Educational plans and policies commission. 

Appointed in 1937 by the State superintendent of public 
instruction to gather data and shape policies which would 
guide the schools in evolving a program to meet the needs. 

Reports of trends in financial support of public schools in New Mexico. 
Prepared by the Educational plans and policies commission. Sub- 

57 



58 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

mitted by the New Mexico state Department of education. H. R. 
Rodgers, state superintendent of public instruction. (Artesia, N. 
M., Advocate print, 1938.) 8p. 



Educational survey board. 

Established in 1947 to survey the educational needs and 
facilities of the state and to study all problems concerning 
the educational program and problems and to report to the 
19th legislature concerning their findings and recommenda- 
tions; dissolved in 1949. 

Public education in New Mexico. Nashville, Tenn., Division of Surveys 
and Field Services, George Peabody College for Teachers (1948), 
420p. 

Public education in New Mexico; digest of the report of the New 
Mexico Educational Survey Board. Nashville, Tenn., Division of 
Surveys and Field Services, George Peabody College for Teachers 
(19,48), 78p. 

Electrical administration board of New Mexico. 

Created in 1939; employes inspectors, makes rules and 
regulations adopted from the National Electrical code. 

Directory of electrical contractors . . . Albuquerque, 1948 

Jan. 1, 1948 8p. 

Jan. 1, 1949 8p. 
Electrical law, pub. under authority of chap. 192 and chap. 201, New 

Mexico Laws of 1939 and 1941 . . . (Albuquerque) 1946, 19p. 
Electrical law . . . (Albuquerque) 1946 

1946 360p. (Bound with National electrical code) 

1946 9p. 

1947 8p. 

on cover: Electrical code. 



Elephant Butte irrigation district. 

Organized Aug. 1917 ; operating under Irrigation district 
code passed by the 1919 legislature chap. 20 as amended 
by chap. 39, session laws of 1921. 

Annual report for the calendar year . . . Las Cruces, 1920 
1920 167p. v. 1 (H. H. Brook) 



CHECKLIST 59 

1922 83p. v. 2 (H. H. Brook) 

Handbook of information of Elephant Butte irrigation district. Re- 
port of the president, H. H. Brook, for the calendar year 1920. 
Las Cruces, Printed by Rio Grande republic (1921?) 166 (i.e. 
167p.) (1st report) 

International aspects of the Rio Grande project; H. H. Brook. Las 
Cruces, 1922. 108p. 



Employer relations institute. 

Proceedings, v. 1. April 19-22, 1948. Albuquerque, Employment se- 
curity commission of New Mexico, New Mexico state employment 
service, affiliated with the U. S. Employment service, Albuquerque, 
1948. 95p. mimeo. 
Held in cooperation with the University of New Mexico. 



Employment security commission. 

Created in 1936 ; administers the unemployment compen- 
sation law and serves as a free state employment service. 

Annual report 

1937 31p. v. 1 (C.P.Anderson) 

1938 39p. v. 2 (R.L. Cook) 

1939 49p. v. 3 (R. L. Cook) 

1940 35p. v. 4 (R. L. Cook) 

1941 40p. v. 5 (B. D. Luchini) 

1942 31p. v. 6 (B. D. Luchini) 

1943 34p. v. 7 (B. D. Luchini) 

1944 46p. v. 8 (B.D. Luchini) 

1945 46p. v. 9 (B. D. Luchini) 

1946 38p. v.10 (B. D. Luchini) 

1947 42p. v.ll (B. D. Luchini) 

1948 46p. v.12 (B. D. Luchini) 
The report is for the calendar year. 
1937 has title : Report. 

Farm placement in New Mexico. Albuquerque, State employment 
service, 1949. 12, (21) p. (affiliated with U.S. Employment serv- 
ice.) 

The guaranteed annual wage. (Albuquerque, 1945) 7 numb, leaves 
processed. Reprint from the April-May, 1945, issue of the N. M. 
Employment security review. 

Hombres y trabajos "Men and jobs." N. M. state employment service, 
affiliated with U. S. Employment service, v.l no.l Jan./Mar., 1939. 
Albuquerque, 1939) 35 leaves. 



60 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Reproduced from typewritten copy. 
No more published. 

Monthly bulletin, v.l-date. Albuquerque, June, 1938-date. 
Typed: June 1938-June 1941; mimeo. July 1941-date. 
Title varies: Statistical report, 1938-1946; Monthly bulletin, 1947. 

Unemployment compensation commission of New Mexico . . . unem- 
ployment compensation law, adopted by the New Mexico legisla- 
tive, special session of 1936 as amended by chap. 129 Laws of 1937; 
and as amended by chap. 175, Laws of 1939. (Santa Fe, 1939) 
n.p.n.d. 79p. 

Unemployment compensation law passed by the 12th legislature of 
the state of New Mexico in special session, n.p. 1936. 32p. 

Unemployment compensation law of New Mexico including amend- 
ments by the 1943 New Mexico legislature . . . Rules and regula- 
tions of the Employment security commission of New Mexico, 
n.p.n.d. 90p. 

Unemployment compensation law of New Mexico, including amend- 
ments by the 1947 New Mexico legislature; administered by the 
Employment security commission of New Mexico. Rules and regu- 
lations of the Employment security commission; related federal 
laws. (Albuquerque, 1947) 116p. 

Unemployment law of New Mexico, including amendments by the 
1947 New Mexico legislature . . . Rules and regulations of the 
Employment security commission; related federal laws. (Albu- 
querque, 1949) 120p. 

Engineer department. 

Established in 1905 to conserve, regulate the use and 
distribution of the waters of the state. 

Report of the territorial engineer to the governor of N. M. for the 

year ending June 30, 1907, and the irrigation law of 1907. Santa 

Fe, 1907. 43p. 
First biennial report of the Territorial engineer . . . including water 

supply; 1907-08. Albuquerque, Albuquerque morning journal, 

1908. 67, 38p. 

Includes Bulletin no. 3 "Records of New Mexico water supply to 

October, 1908. 38p. 

Second biennial report of the Territorial engineer . . . including irri- 
gation, water supply, good roads, Carey act; 1909-1910. Santa Fe, 

New Mexican printing company, 1910. 188, 69p. 

Includes Water supply records from September 1908 to October 

1910. V. L. Sullivan. Territorial engineer. 

No report printed for 1910/12. 



CHECKLIST 61 

Bulletin 
no. 1 
no. 2 Articles on irrigation in competition for trophy cup offered 

by Vernon L. Sullivan. (Santa Fe) 19,08. 46p. 
no. 3 Records of New Mexico water supply to October, 1908. 

(Albuquerque) 1908. 38p. (in 1st Biennial report.) 
no. 4 Water supply records from Sept. 1908 to Oct. 1910 (in 2nd 

Biennial report) 69p. 

no. 5 Morgan, A. M. Geology and shallow water resources of the 
Roswell artesian basin. Santa Fe, 1938. 95p. Reprinted from 
1934/38 Report p.155-249. 
Biennial Report 

*July 12, 1912-Dec. 1, 1914 120p. v.l ( J. A. French) 1-2 fiscal yrs. 
Dec. 1, 1914-Nov. 30, 1916 103p. v.2 (J. A. French) 3-4 fiscal yrs. 
Dec. 1, 19,16-Nov. 30, 1918 175p. v.3 ( J. A. French) 5-6th fiscal yrs. 
Dec. 1, 1918-Nov. 30, 1920 108p. v.4 (L. A. Gillett) 7-8th fiscal yrs. 
Dec. 1, 1920-Nov. 30, 1922 77p. v.5 (C. A. May) 9-10th fiscal yrs. 
Dec. 1, 1922-Nov. 30, 1924 214p. v.6 (J. A. French) 11-12 fiscal yrs. 
Dec. 1, 1924-June 30, 1926 155p. v.7 (G. M. Neel) 13-14th fiscal yrs. 
July 1, 1926-June 30, 1928 343p. v.8 (H. W. Yeo) 15-16th fiscal yrs. 
July 1, 1928-June 30, 1930 423p. v.9 (H. W. Yeo) 17-18th fiscal yrs. 
July 1, 1930-June 30, 1932 351p. v.10 (G. M. Neel) 19-20th fiscal yrs. 
July 1, 1932-June 30, 1934 270p. v.ll (T.M.McClure) 21-22 fiscal yrs. 
July 1, 1934-June 30, 1938 295p. v.12-13 (T. M. McClure) 23-26th 

fiscal yrs. 
July 1, 1938-June 30, 1942 v.14-15 (T. M. McClure) 27-31st fiscal 

yrs. in press. 

Manual of rules and regulations for proceedings before the State en- 
gineer under the laws affecting surface waters of the state of 
New Mexico; revised April, 1941. Santa Fe, n.d. 35p. 
Manual of revised rules, regulations and requirements for filing claims 
to water rights under laws of 1907 as amended, James A. French, 
state engineer. In force after June 14, 1913. Santa Fe, (19,13). 
15p. 

Manual of revised rules, regulations and requirements for filing claims 
to water rights under laws of 1907 as amended ... in force April 
14, 1915. Santa Fe, (1915), 15p. 

Manual of revised rules, regulations, requirements and instructions 
under laws affecting public waters. In effect May 1, 1918. Albu- 
querque, n.d. 6, 28p. 

Report on drainage investigation, Middle Rio Grande valley, New 
Mexico. Albuquerque, n.d. 23p. 

*The first report, covering the period from July 12, 1912, to Dec. 1, 1914, relates 
to the supervision of the work delegated to the State highway commission from the 
time it superseded the Territorial road commission, Sept. 8, 1912, as well as the work 
of the state engineer. Continuation of the territorial reports. 



62 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Report on the possibilities of irrigation and power development on 

the Gila and San Francisco rivers in New Mexico. Herbert W. 

Yeo, state engineer. 1927. v.p. (mimeo.) 
Surface water supply of New Mexico. 1911-12 1930-31. Albuquerque, 

1913-1932. 14v. 

1911-12 246p. (J. A. French) 

1913 216p. (J. A. French) 

1914 151p. (J.A.French) 

1915 149p. (J.A.French) 

1916 146p. (J. A. French) 

1917 153p. (J. A. French) 

1918 149,p. (J.A.French) 

Jan. 1, 1919-Sept. 30, 1920 184p. (L. A. Gillett) 

Oct. 1, 1921-Sept. 30, 1922 172p. (C. A. May) 

Jan. 1. 1923-Dec. 31. 1924 p.39-214 (J. A. French) in 6th Biennial Re- 
port 

Jan. 1, 1926-Dec. 31, 1927 248p. (H. W. Yeo) 

Jan. 1, 1928-Dec. 31, 1929 248p. (H. W. Yeo) 

Jan. 1, 1930-Dec. 31, 1931 251p. (G. M. Neel) 

A report of hydrographic work carried on in cooperation with the 
Water resources branch of the U. S. Geological survey. 
Not published since 1931 since the data is now included in the 
Water supply papers of the U. S. Geological survey. 
In addition to the above series, the first and second biennial re- 
ports of the Territorial engineer contain the result for the years 
1907-1908 and 1909-1910. 

Title varies: 1911-12-1913, Report on the surface water supply of 
New Mexico. 

Rio Grande compact. Santa Fe (1939) 30p. 

Road laws of New Mexico. 1914. 47p. (E. & S.) 

Rules, regulations, requirements and instructions. In effect July 1st, 
1927. Herbert W. Yeo, state engineer. Santa Fe, 1927. 23p. 

Supplementary rules and regulations approved by the state engineer 
and Board of commissioners of Pecos valley Artesian conservancy 
district regarding enforcement of certain laws now in existence, 
pertaining to regulation of wells in Pecos valley Artesian con- 
servancy district, n.p.n.d. Ip. (mimeo) 

Surface water supply of New Mexico, 1888-1917. James A. French, 
state engineer. (Albuquerque, Albright & Anderson, 1918?) 227p. 
Printed and edited under the direction of Robt. L. Cooper. 

Surface water supply of New Mexico, 1888-1925. Geo. M. Neel, state 
engineer. (Santa Fe, 1926) 373p. 

Chap. 126 of the Session laws of 1941; fifteenth State legislature of 
N. M. amending, revising and repealing certain sections of chap. 



CHECKLIST 63 

151, N. M. statutes, 1929 compilation, being the general law re- 
garding the appropriation of surface waters of the State of N. M. 
Santa Fe, n.d. 13p. 



Federal music project. New Mexico. 

Spanish American dance tunes of New Mexico. Washington, Federal 

works agency, Works progress administration, 1942. 36p. (unit 

no. 4) mimeo. 
Spanish American folk songs of New Mexico. Washington, Federal 

works agency, Works progress administration, 1936, 1940. 3v. 

mimeo. With music. 

No. 3 has title: Spanish American singing games; rev. 1940. 27p. 



Federal writers' project. New Mexico. 

Calendar of annual events in New Mexico; comp. and written by Fed- 
eral writers project; illus. by Federal art project of New Mexico, 
1937, W.P.A., sponsored by Santa Fe civic league and Chamber 
of commerce. (Santa Fe, 1937) 32p. (American guide series) 

Over the Turquoise trail ; comp. by the workers of the Federal writers' 
project of the W.P.A. of New Mexico, v.l no. 1 Santa Fe (1937) 
40p. (American guide series) 



Historical records survey. New Mexico. 

The work of this project consisted of locating, arrang- 
ing and cataloging historical records, of preparing and pub- 
lishing inventories and of transcribing, photographing or 
otherwise preserving records of special historical value. 

Directory of churches and religious organizations in New Mexico, 
1940. University of New Mexico, sponsor. Albuquerque, N. M. 
Historical records survey, 1940. 385p. 

Guide to public vital statistics records in New Mexico. Prepared by 
the N. M. Historical records survey, Division of community serv- 
ice programs, Works projects administration. Sponsored by the 
University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, N. M. Historical records 
survey, 1942, v.p. 

Index to Final report of investigations among the Indians of the South- 
western United States, by A. F. Bandelier . . . Albuquerque, New 
Mexico, historical records survey, 1942. 86p. 

Inventory of the county archives of New Mexico. Prepared by the His- 
torical records survey, Division of Women's and professional proj- 



64 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

ects, Works progress administration. Albuquerque, The Historical 
records survey, 1937-1942. 

no. 1 Bernalillo county. Albuquerque, 1938. 255p. 
no. 4 Colfax county. Albuquerque, 1937. 94p. 
no. 7 Dona Ana county. Albuquerque, 1940. 261p. 
no. 8 Eddy county. Albuquerque, 1939. 213p. 
no. 9 Grant county. Albuquerque, 1941. 344p. 
no. 12 Hidalgo county. Albuquerque, 1941. 192p. 
no. 15 Luna county. Albuquerque, 1942. 306p. 
no. 17 Mora county. Albuquerque, 1941. 282p. 
no. 18 Otero county. Albuquerque, 1939. 202p. 
no. 23 Sandoval county. Albuquerque, 1939. 180p. 
no. 24 San Miguel county. Albuquerque, 1941. 267p. 
no. 26 Sierra county. Albuquerque, 1942. 272p. 
no. 29 Torrance county. Albuquerque, 1939. 181p. 
no. 30 Union county. Albuquerque, 1940. 202p. 
no. 31 Valencia county. Albuquerque, 1940. 236p. 

Inventory of federal archives in the states. Prepared by the Federal 
archives unit of the New Mexico Historical records survey. Division 
of professional and service projects. Works project administration. 
University of New Mexico, sponsor. The National archives co- 
operating sponsor. Albuquerque, Historical records survey, 1940- 
41. 

Ser. I The farm credit administration no. 30 
Ser. II The federal courts no. 30 1941 14p. 

Ser. Ill The department of the treasury no. 30 1941 41p. 
Ser. IV The department of war no. 30 1940 13p. 

Ser. V The department of justice no. 30 1940 18p. 

Ser. VII The department of navy no. 30 1940 7p. 

Ser. XII Veterans administration no. 30 1940 40p. 

Ser. XIII Civil works administration no. 30 1940 lOp. 



Insurance department. 

Created in 1905; previous reports were issued by the 
Insurance department of the Auditor's office. The first in- 
surance law was passed in 1882. Under art. 11 of the con- 
stitution of New Mexico, the State corporation commission 
had full power and authority over insurance companies ; in 
1921 the legislature repealed the established Insurance de- 
partment and placed all the powers and duties prescribed 
by the 1905 law in the State bank examiner; in 1925 the 
legislature created a Department of insurance within the 
Corporation commission ; in 1947 the legislature created the 



CHECKLIST 65 

State insurance board. The superintendent of insurance is 
charged with the execution of laws affecting the regulation 
and supervision of insurance companies authorized to trans- 
act insurance within the state. 

Report showing the New Mexico business of all insurance companies 
transacting business in New Mexico during the year .... Santa 
Fe, 1888-1906. 
1888 

1889 p.43-44 Auditor's report 

1890 1 leaf 

1891 1 leaf (Demetrio Perez) 

1892 1 lear (Demetrio Perez) 

1893 1 leaf (Demetrio Perez) 

1894 1 leaf (Marcelino Garcia) 

1895 (4)p. (Marcelino Garcia) 

1896 (4) p. (Marcelino Garcia) 

1897 (4)p. (Marcelino Garcia) 
1898 

1899 (4) p. (L. M. Ortiz) 

1900 (4) p. (L.M.Ortiz) 
19,01 (4) p. (W.G.Sargent) 

1902 (4)p. (W.G.Sargent) 

1903 (6) p. (W.G.Sargent) 

1904 (4) p. (Pedro Perea) 

1905 (6) p. (J.H.Sloan) 

1906 (6) p. (Jacobo Chavez) 

Title varies: 1888-1894, Statement showing the business done in 
New Mexico by life and miscellaneous insurance companies. 
Report of the superintendent of insurance. . . Santa Fe, 1906-1911. 
1906 16p. (J. H. Sloan) 

in message of H. J. Hagerman to the 37th legislative assembly 
Jan. 21, 1907. 16p. Exhibit 12 
*1907 22p. v.3 (Jacobo Chavez) 
1908-09 27p. v.4-5 (Jacobo Chavez) 
1910 25p. v.6 (Jacobo Chavez) 
1909-11 16p. (Jacobo Chavez) 
**1911 24 (5) p. (Jacobo Chavez) 

Annual report of the insurance department of the State corporation 
commission . . . Santa Fe, 1913 

1912 69p. (Jacobo Chavez) 

1913 77p. (Jacobo Chavez) 

1914 69p. (Jacobo Chavez) 



* 1907 has title : Third annual report showing business transacted by all insurance 
companies authorized to transact business in New Mexico during the year. 
**Includes reports for 1909, 1910, 1911. 



66 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

1915 86p. (JacoKo Chavez) 

1916 76p. (Jacobo Chavez) 

1917 (8) p. (Cleofes Romero) 

1918 (8) p. (Cleofes Romero) 

1919 (16)p. (Remigio Mirabal) 

1920 (18)p. (Remigio Mirabal) 

1921 (15) p. (P. J. Lineau) 

1922 (23) p. (P. J. Lineau) 

1923 (27) p. (W.B.Wagner) 

1924 (36) p. (W.B.Wagner) 

1925 (32)p. (W.B.Wagner) 

1926 (34) p. (W.B.Wagner) 

1927 (38)p. (H. H. Delgado) 

1928 (39) p. (J. H. Vaughn) 

1929 39p. (J. H. Vaughn) 

1930 39p. (J. H. Vaughn) 

1931 37p. (Max Fernandez) 

1932 39p. (Alfonso Alguilar) 

1933 39p. (Alfonso Alguilar) 

1934 39p. (G. M. Biel) 

1935 86p. (G. M. Biel) 

1936-37 88, (2) p. v.12-13 (G. M. Biel) 
1938 59, (2) p. v.14 (G. M. Biel) 
1939-40 61p. v.15-16 (R. F. Apodaca) 

1941 51p. v.17 (R. F. Apodaca) 

1942 54p. v.18 (R. F. Apodaca) 

1943 63p. v.19 (R. F. Apodaca) 

1944 69p. v.20 (A. F. Apodaca) 

Title varies slightly: 1912-1926 called Report. 
Bulletin 

no.1-7 not found 

no. 8 Fire prevention day Oct. 9, 1911; proclamation by governor 
dated Oct. 3, 1911. (3) p. 

Fire prevention and forest protection in New Mexico. (Santa Fe) n.d. 
15p. 

Group insurance for employees of the state of New Mexico. . . n.p.n.d. 
Insurance laws of the territory of N. M. passed at the 25th session of 

the Legislative assembly, 1882. Approved Feb. 18, 1882. Santa Fe, 

Greene, 1882. 18p. 

Insurance laws of the territory of New Mexico passed at the 25th and 
26th session of the Legislative assembly, 1882 and 1884. Topeka, 
Kansas, Crane, 1884. 18p. 

Insurance laws of the territory of New Mexico. Santa Fe, New Mex- 
ican printing co., 1897. 19p. 

Insurance laws of the territory of New Mexico . . . Santa Fe, 1903. 



CHECKLIST 67 

Insurance laws of the territory of New Mexico; comp. March 20, 1905, 
under the direction of J. H. Sloan . . . Santa Fe, New Mexican 
printing co., 1906. 32p. 

Insurance laws of the territory of New Mexico; comp. 1909, Jacob 
Chavez, superintendent of insurance. Santa Fe, New Mexican 
printing co., 1909. 45p. 

Insurance laws of New Mexico, containing all the enactments to date, 
together with extracts from the opinion of the attorney general, 
specifying the duties of the State corporation commission there- 
under. April, 1913 . . . (Santa Fe, 1913) 54p. 

Insurance laws of the state of New Mexico; containing all of the en- 
actments to date; Cleofes Romero, superintendent of insurance. 
Santa Fe, State record print, 1918. 70p. 

Insurance laws of the State of New Mexico; containing all of the en- 
actments to date; published by the State bank examiner, Insur- 
ance department. Santa Fe, 1921. 91p. 

Insurance laws of the state of New Mexico, containing all the enact- 
ments to date. . . Dec. 1923. Aztec (1923) 95p. 

Insurance laws of the state of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1925. 86p. 

Insurance laws of the state of New Mexico passed by the 6th regular 
session of the Legislature of New Mexico. . . (Santa Fe, 1923) 
(8)p. 

Insurance laws of the state of New Mexico; pub. by the State cor- 
poration commission, Insurance department. Santa Fe, 1927. 67p. 

Insurance laws of the state of New Mexico; pub. by the State cor- 
poration commission, Insurance department. Santa Fe, 1931. 62p. 

Insurance laws of the state of New Mexico ; pub. by the State corpora- 
tion commission, Insurance department. Santa Fe, 1934. 69p. 

Insurance laws of the state of New Mexico, including Session laws 
of 1941. State corporation commission, Don R. Casados, chairman. 
. . R. F. Apodaca, superintendent of insurance. (Santa Fe) 1941. 
HOp. 

New Mexico insurance laws regulating agents. . . Albuquerque, n.d. 4p. 

A study of insurance rates and practices of insurance companies and 
state control of insurance rates, including legislative proposals. 
Santa Fe, 1947. 69p. 

Interstate oil compact commission. New Mexico. 

Act was passed in 1935 authorizing an interstate agree- 
ment to conserve oil and gas. 

Report of the New Mexico representative, Hiram H. Dow, Roswell, 
1938. 41p. 



68 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Transcript of proceedings. July 12-13, 1937. 57p. mimeo. 

Irrigation engineer. 

Created 1897 to promote irrigation development and 
conserve the waters of the state ; abolished in 1907. 

Condicion presente de irrigacion y abastecimiento de 
Agua en Nuevo Mejico. Informe a la comision de irrigacion 
y derechos de Agua de Nuevo Mejico por P. E. Harroun, 
Ingeniero civil, Albuquerque, 1898. p. 23-80. 

At head of title : Informe del ingeniero. 

Bound with Informe de la comision de irrigacion. 
^ 

Report 

1897 Dec. 15, 1898 (Antonio Joseph, pres. J. E. Saint, sec.) in 

Council and House Journal, 1899. "Exhibit D" p. 111-180. in 

Message of M. A. Otero to the 33d Legislative assembly. Jan. 

16, 1899. "Exhibit D" p. 111-180. 
1899-Dec. 15, 1900 (G. A. Richardson, pres., L. A. Hughes, sec.) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 34th Legislative assembly. Jan. 

21, 1901. Exhibit "E" p. 141-145. 
1901-Nov. 30, 1902 (G. A. Richardson, pres., G. W. Knaebel, sec.) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 35th Legislative assembly. 

Jan. 19, 1903. Exhibit "G" 7p. 
Dec. 20, 1902-Nov. 30, 1904 (Arthur Seligman, sec.) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 36th Legislative assembly. 

Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit "G" 6p. 
April 18, 1905-Jan. 1, 1907 (D. M. White) 

in Message of H. J. Hagerman to the 37th Legislative assembly. 

Jan. 21, 1907. 13p. Exhibit 13. 
Corporate entry varies : 

1899 Commission of irrigation and water rights. 

1900 Commission of irrigation. 
1902-04 Irrigation commission. 
1905-07 Irrigation engineer. 

Informe de la comision de irrigacion y derechos de agua Diciembre 15, 
1898. Santa Fe, Compania impresora del Nuevo Mexicano, 1899. 
80p. 

Labor and industrial commission. 

Established in 1931 to enforce the labor laws. 

Annual report 

July 1, 1939-June 30, 1940 unp. (v.10) (V. J. Jaeger) mimeo. 



CHECKLIST 69 

July 1, 1940-June 30, 1941 39p. (v.ll) (V. J. Jaeger) mimeo. 
July 1, 1941-June 30, 1942 8p. (v.12) (R. J. Doughtie) mimeo. 
July 1, 1942-June 30, 1943 unp. (v.13) (R. J. Doughtie) mimeo. 
July 1, 1943-June 30, 1944 26p. v.14 (R. J. Doughtie) 
July 1, 1944-June 30, 1945 28p. v.15 (A. E. Joiner) 
July 1, 1945-June 30, 1946 29p. v.16 (A. E. Joiner) 
July 1, 1946-June 30, 1947 31p. v.17 (A. E. Joiner) 
July 1, 19,47-June 30, 1948 31p. v.18 (A. E. Joiner) 

An act providing for compensation of workmen, n.p.n.d. unp. 
(Session laws of 1917. chap. 83) 

Constitution and by-laws . . . 1938-39. Santa Fe (1938?) 19p. 

Labor laws and other miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
labor and industrial commission; comp. and pub. under the super- 
vision of F. Charles Davis, state labor commissioner. Santa Fe, 
1938. 70p. 

Labor and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State labor and 
industrial commission; pub. under the supervision of Robert J. 
Doughtie, state labor commissioner. Santa Fe, 1944. 96p. 

Labor laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State labor 
and industrial commission ; pub. under the supervision of Ebenezer 
Jones, assistant labor commissioner, approved by Alda E. Joiner, 
labor commissioner. (Santa Fe) 1945. 135p. 

Labor laws; Workmen's compensation act and other miscellaneous 
legislation relating to the State labor and industrial commission; 
comp. and pub. under the supervision of Ralph E. Davy, state 
labor commissioner. Santa Fe, 1934. 92p. 

Labor laws ; Workmen's compensation act and other miscellaneous leg- 
islation relating to the State labor and industrial commission; 
comp. and pub. under the supervision of F. Charles Davis, state 
labor commissioner. Santa Fe, 1936. 82p. 

New Mexico labor laws; Workmen's compensation act, Occupational 
disease disablement law, Labor commissioner act and miscellan- 
eous legislation relating to the State labor and industrial commis- 
sion; pub. under the supervision of Ebenezer Jones, assistant la- 
bor commissioner, approved by Alda E. Joiner, labor commis- 
sioner. (Santa Fe) 1949. 130p. 

Special labor laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
labor and industrial commission. Santa Fe (1931?) 112p. 

Workmen's compensation act . . . pub. under supervision of Ralph E. 
Davy, state labor commissioner. Santa Fe, 1934. 27p. 

Workmen's compensation act and labor commissioner act . . . pub- 
lished under the supervision of F. Charles Davis, state labor com- 
missioner. Santa Fe, 1937. 40p. 

Workmen's compensation act and labor commissioner act . . . pub- 



70 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

lished under the supervision of Robert J. Doughtie, state labor 
commissioner. Santa Fe, 1943. 40p. 

Workmen's compensation act; occupational disease disablement law 
and labor commissioner act . . . pub. under the supervision of 
Ebenezer Jones, assistant labor commissioner; approved by Alda 
E. Joiner, labor commissioner. Santa Fe, 1945. 66p. 

Workmen's compensation act; Occupational disease disablement law 
and labor commissioner act . . . published under the supervision 
of Ebenezer Jones, assistant labor commissioner, approved by 
Alda E. Joiner. Santa Fe, 1947. 63p. 

Workmen's compensation laws . . . Santa Fe, 1927. 24p. 

Workmen's compensation laws . . . Santa Fe, 1929. 31p. 



Law Library. 

Established in 1851, had its origin in a Congressional 
appropriation of $5,000 in Sept. 1850. The first books were 
bought in Washington, brought over the Santa Fe trail to 
Santa Fe in 1851. In the beginning the territorial secretary 
was the first territorial librarian ; the second legislative as- 
sembly, 1852-53, separated the library from the secretary's 
office and provided for the appointment of a territorial li- 
brarian ; office was vacant from 1857-69. In 1912 Gov. Mc- 
Donald appointed W. T. Thornton as librarian claiming at 
the time that no woman could hold a state office. Court pro- 
ceedings were brought and the decision was against the 
Governor's ruling; now under the control of the Supreme 
court. 

Report 

1882-83 (Samuel Ellison) (E&S) 

in Informes Officiales, 1882/83 p. 29-57. 
1887-88. 5p. (Samuel Ellison) 
1897-98 (Jose Segura) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 33d Legislative Assembly 

Jan. 16, 1899. Exhibit "G" p. 192-194. 

in Council and House Journals, 1899. Exhibit "G" p. 192-194. 
1899-1900. (L. Emmett) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 34th Legislative Assembly 

Jan. 21, 1901. Exhibit "I" p. 277-282. 
1901-Nov. 30, 1902 (L. Emmett) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 35th Legislative Assembly 

Jan. 19, 1903. Exhibit "L" 4p. 



CHECKLIST 71 

1903-Dec. 31, 1904. (L. Emmett) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 36th Legislative Assembly 

Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit "L" 6p. 
1905-Dec. 31, 1906. (Anita J. Chapman) 

in Message of H. J. Hagerman to the 37th Legislative Assembly 

Jan. 21, 1907. Exhibit 17. 8p. 

Reporte bienal de el librero territorial de Nuevo Mexico; por los anos 
1887 y 1888. Santa Fe, New Mexican printing co., 1890. 5p. 

Legislative reference bureau. 

Created in 1937 to provide impartial and accurate infor- 
mation, reports and digests showing practices of other states 
and nations, to furnish expert bill drafting service and ade- 
quate staff facilities ; discontinued in 1941. 

First report to the 14th legislature. (Judge T. W. Neal, director) 

Merit system council. 

Created in 1940 in accordance with provisions of the 
Federal social security act as amended in 1939. The agencies 
participating in the Merit system are : N. M. Department of 
public welfare, N. M. Department of public health and the 
Employment security commission ; the major duties are the 
preparation and administration of examinations, the cer- 
tification of eligibles from appropriate registers when 
vacancies arise, the review of payrolls to determine that ap- 
pointments are made in accordance with the regulations, and 
recruitment to interest qualified persons. 

Annual report 

1942 17p. (T. S. Muir) mimeo. 

1943 14p. (T. S. Muir) mimeo. 

1944 23p. (C. L. Rose) mimeo. 

1945 2 (21) p. (E. K. Berchtold) mimeo. 

1946 3 (29) p. (E. K. Berchtold) mimeo. 

1947 4 (26) p. (E. K. Berchtold) mimeo. 

1948 (19,) 3p. (E. K. Berchtold) mimeo. 
Report is for the calendar year. 

On cover, 1942-1945: N. M. Merit system council representing 
N. M. Department of public welfare, N. M. Department of public 
health and Employment security commission of New Mexico. 
Classification plan for the public service of the state of New Mexico 



72 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

and the political subdivisions thereof. Albuquerque, 1940. 178p. 
mimeo. 

Merit system in New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1945) 15p. 

The merit system in New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1949) lOp. 

The New Mexico civil service merit system plan for federal aid agen- 
cies under the authority of the Merit system council . . . Albuquer- 
que, n.d. 8p. 

The New Mexico merit system . . . (Santa Fe, n.d.) 6p. 

(To be continued) 



Book Reviews 

The Indians of the Southwest: A Century of Development 
Under the United States. Edward Everett Dale. Norman : 
University of Oklahoma Press. 1949. Pp. xvi, 283. $4.00. 

The colorful Indians of the great Southwest at last have 
their historian a recognized authority, Dr. Edward Ever- 
ett Dale of the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Dale began an 
intimate study of the Southwestern tribes in 1926, when he 
served as a member of the Meriam Commission of the Insti- 
tute for Government Research. His further study of these 
tribes, intensified by a grant from the Henry E. Huntington 
Library in 1944, has resulted in a "broad general survey of 
the more important aspects of one hundred years of Indian 
administration in the Southwest." The tribes studied are 
limited to those who live in the present states of New Mexico, 
Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California and Arizona, essen- 
tially the territory of the "Mexican Cession" of 1848. 

Dr. Dale sets an extraordinarily formidable task for 
himself in attempting a synthesis of the federal relations 
with the Indians of the Southwest. In his preface, after 
stating that he plans to give "special emphasis" to activities 
of "permanent value," he further informs us that his "chief 
purpose ... is to give to the general reader a better under- 
standing of the Southwestern tribes as they are today by 
tracing briefly the story of the events which have helped to 
create present conditions." He also hopes to give scholars a 
background of information "for the preparation of more 
detailed studies touching the Indians of this area." Even 
with the aid of only a few such needed studies he has suc- 
ceeded well. A great part of this study, it should be noted, 
is based on original research in primary sources. 

In the first chapter of the book he discusses succinctly and 
brilliantly the general problem of Indian administration and 
its historical background. The second chapter is mainly a 
discussion of ethnological and geographic factors, sufficiently 
thorough to establish the immensity of the problem of In- 
dian management in the vast Southwest. 

73 



74 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Chapters 3-10 are largely chronological in nature, and 
in them he traces the story of federal relations from 1848 
to early in the present century. In these chapters he pene- 
trates deeply into the bedrock of the problems of Indian 
administration, and makes clear the almost insuperable diffi- 
culties caused by the diversity of tribes, the bureaucratic 
conflicts between the military and civilian officers, the 
chronic lack of funds and efficient personnel, the impos- 
sibility of effective transportation and communication, the 
hatreds and selfishness of the frontier white population and 
the general cussedness of the Indians themselves. In this 
tangled web of human and physical complexities he threads 
his way through the story with unusual skill, and arrives 
at conclusions particularly dispassionate for a student of 
Indian affairs. 

The last part of the book, chapters 11-15, is essentially 
topical. The reviewer is of the opinion that Dr. Dale is at 
his best in these chapters; they show more originality, a 
greater personal interest and a heartening optimism for 
the future of the Indians. By an adequate discussion and 
an analysis of the agent and his work, the education of the 
Indians, their health and hygiene, and the current problems 
of Indian administration he effectively brings the subject 
up to the present time. 

The merits of this book are many ; the shortcomings are 
few. However, in having to deal with so many tribes and 
reservations and such a multiplicity of officials, the general 
mosaic naturally assumes in some instances a slight monot- 
ony. But there is no question that both the specialist and 
the general reader will find the book highly interesting 
throughout. 

Mistakes are few in number. On page 70, it is implied 
that Arizona in 1857 existed as a territory with a territorial 
governor who acted as the superintendent of Indian affairs. 
Although its name was in common use, Arizona was not 
constituted a territory until 1863. Also, on page 98, Arizona 
is credited as being a state in 1871. Statehood, however, 
was not attained until 1912. Agent John P. Clum is given 
credit on page 104 for what appears to be a complete removal 



BOOK REVIEWS 75 

in 1875 of all the Indians at the Fort Apache, while on page 
127 the same removal is correctly stated to be incomplete. 
There was no organization such as the Arizona National 
Guard in 1877, as given on page 106. H. Bennett, referred 
to on page 126, was meant to be Dr. Herman Bendell. And 
in the case of General Crook's name, written George F. Crook 
on page 63, there was neither a middle name nor an initial. 
Obviously, errors such as the ones cited are trivial and 
might well remain unmentioned. 

The limitations of the book, few as they are, are not 
due to dereliction on the part of the author. They are inher- 
ent in so vast a panorama. In the opinion of this reviewer 
his book will long stand as the authority in its field. 

In conclusion, attention must be called to the valuable 
photographs, the generous bibliography, the excellent in- 
dex, the useful maps and the attractive format of the book. 
All of these factors greatly enhance the value of this splen- 
did volume. It is indeed a worthy addition to the University 
of Oklahoma Press's great Civilization of the American 
Indian Series. 

R. H. OGLE 

Phoenix Union High Schools 
and Phoenix College 



Oil! Titan of the Southwest. Carl Coke Rister. Norman: 
University of Oklahoma Press, 1949. Pp. xxiii, 467. $5.00. 

Professor Rister's thesis is all-embracing: Oil is the 
life-blood of the nation, and, as of 1947, the Southwest has 
been producing 70% of the nation's oil. Still, although the 
value of Southwestern "petroleum and petroleum products 
during 1948 alone . . [was] greater than all the gold and 
silver mined in the United States since early colonial days," 
historians have neglected the oil industry's rise in the South- 
west. This volume goes far to balance the historical de- 
ficiency, for it is the saga of Southwestern oil from cope 
the Spanish discovered on Gulf coast inlets to the mammoth 
refineries of present-day Port Arthur. 

Research needs for such an ambitious project were 



76 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

prodigious; the author travelled no less than thirty-five 
thousand miles to gather his sources. His investigations in 
the National Archives (especially in the records of the 
Bureau of Mines, the United States Geological Survey, the 
Office of Indian Affairs, the Federal Oil Conservation Board, 
the United States Fuel Administration, and the Petroleum 
Administration for War) might be cited as a model use of 
collections in our great national depository. State and county 
documents searched include everything from statutes to 
deeds. Trade journals and newspaper files received a thor- 
ough combing, as did the technological literature of oil 
geology and engineering. Of unique value are the manu- 
script letters and monographs from private collections. Per- 
sonal interviews with oil men filled in the interstices. 
Standard Oil Company of New Jersey underwrote the ex- 
penses by a research grant to the University of Oklahoma 
Foundation. 

Most of the book is a scholarly description of the suc- 
cessively developing Southwestern oil fields: the early 
Nacogdoches operations, "Choctaw-Chickasaw" operations, 
the Bartlesville well (1897), the Paola oil springs, the 
Neodesha field, Corsicana, Spindletop, Jennings, Red Fork, 
Caddo, Burkburnett, Gushing, Ranger, Desdemona, Mexia, 
Burbank, Smackover, Humble, Oklahoma City, Permian 
Basin, Panhandle, East Texas, Hobbs, and many others. 
The discovery, production, transportation, leasing, and 
storage problems of each have been examined with monot- 
onous attention to detail. Flashes of colorful writing, how- 
ever, do appear, as, for example, a description of the Greater 
Seminole boom towns. 

Anyone but the technically informed will have difficulty 
with the oilfield jargon : rotary mud, cable tool rigs, Arbuckle 
formation, Simpson zone, Baume gravity measurements, 
chokes, control heads, to mention but a few terms. A glos- 
sary offers some aid in this respect. Also there are tables 
of production for the various fields, and by years. A folding 
map locates the fields. One of the most interesting chapters 
discusses the role played by American oil in World War II, 



BOOK REVIEWS 77 

with notice given to the construction of "big inch" and 
"little inch" pipe lines. 

In such a thoroughgoing treatment of oil in the Amer- 
ican economy it is difficult to find omissions either of details 
or essentials. Nevertheless one would perhaps expect to 
find more on the tidelands controversy. There also is a ten- 
dency to minimize the great oil corporations' financing and 
"interior" organization. To be sure these are considered, 
but only in footnotes, and in such a manner as to leave 
certain statements unexplained in the text. (See especially, 
pp. 40-41) 

This work is dedicated to the "early-day oilman, Amer- 
ica's greatest industrial pioneer." There is indeed a lusty 
appreciation of the courage, persistence, and daring of the 
pioneer adventurers in oil. But Professor Rister is pri- 
marily impressed with the progress of the industry from 
chaos to order. "The petroleum industry," he concludes, 
"has climbed out of early-day over-production, low markets, 
and oil-field chaos and waste, into a well-organized and 
scientifically equipped business." Eugene Holman, presi- 
dent of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, receives 
a notable tribute for his "progressive industrial ideas and 
his forthright expressions of a belief that business execu- 
tives should administer their responsibilities with the broad 
public interests constantly in view." A comparison of the 
wasteful features overproduction, offset drilling, devastat- 
ing fires, escaping gas, sloppy storage in earthen tanks 
that plagued the oil pioneers of early days with the con- 
structive influences wrought by oil promotion in more recent 
times is explicit in this interpretation. The author contends 
that oil dividends have been moderate, that oil income stays 
largely in the producing States, and he elucidates his state- 
ments with specific illustrations ranging from the University 
of Texas to the Shamrock Hotel. 

Conservation measures, Professor Rister admits, have 
been influenced by State laws, courts, and administration; 
but federal conservation received scant praise from him. 
Rather, he gives most credit for orderly development to 



78 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

"reasonably circumspect corporate ethics . . ." in the oil 
industry. Descriptions (in the last chapters) of highly 
specialized laboratories, labyrinthine refineries of great 
scale, the increased cost of bringing in deep wells, "heavy 
equipment investments," block leasing, expensive marine 
operations on the Gulf coast, and other characteristics of 
oil operations in the present Southwest, all would seem to 
point in the direction of control by a limited number of 
large corporations. At least these features of recent de- 
velopment cast doubt upon Professor Rister's prophecy that 
it is unlikely such an industry "can become monopolistic, 
as was forecast in Theodore Roosevelt's day." 

GEORGE WINSTON SMITH 
University of New Mexico 

William Blackmore. Herbert Oliver Brayer. Vol. I: The 
Spanish-Mexican Land Grants. Pp. 381. Vol II: Early 
Financing of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway. Pp. 333. 
Illustrated. Denver, Colorado : Bradford-Robinson, 1949. 

A little written-about phase of New Mexico-Colorado his- 
tory in the 1870's is given exhaustive treatment by the author 
after he had spent eight years in research in archives, li- 
braries and family papers in this country and in Europe. 
It is a scholarly piece of writing centered around William 
Blackmore, British entrepreneur, counsellor, anthropologist, 
whose far-flung financial operations punctuated by a tragic 
end, make a fascinating international chronicle. The ex- 
tensive Blackmore Collection of documents, lodged in the 
Library of the New Mexico Historial Society as a gift of 
Frank Stevens, nephew of William Blackmore and curator 
of the Blackmore Salisbury & South Wilts Museum, ob- 
tained through the intervention of Brayer, and classified 
and catalogued by him, form the basis for this "Case Study 
in the economic development of the West." Mrs. Garnet 
M. Brayer, wife of the author, spent the better part of a 
year transcribing the Blackmore diaries, portions of which 
are in an obscure and archaic shorthand. 

In his introductory chapter, Brayer outlines the eco- 



BOOK REVIEWS 79 

nomics of the Rio Grande valley and its tributaries in the 
sixties and seventies of the last century as shaped by the 
Spanish-American settlers and at that time differing but 
slightly from the days of the change in sovereignty from 
Mexico to the United States. He tells how a coterie of at- 
torneys, most of them in Santa Fe, had obtained control 
and even ownership of Spanish land grants, these having 
become the medium for the payment of legal services. How- 
ever, the native "remained essentially a subsistence farmer, 
utilizing centuries-old agricultural methods and imple- 
ments." It was this condition which led Blackmore to under- 
take in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico his 
most important operations. Incidentally, he left a perma- 
nent mark on American ethnological studies with his col- 
lection of Ohio Mound artifacts and other archaeological 
and anthropological specimens, now in the Blackmore Mu- 
seum in Salisbury and in the British Museum. He assisted 
financially the Hayden expedition to the Yellowstone in 1872, 
supplied part of the funds to equip William H. Jackson, 
noted pioneer photographer, and Thomas Moran, famous 
painter of the Grand Canyon. The hundreds of photographs 
of American Indians collected by Blackmore formed the 
foundation of the Smithsonian Institution's wealth of west- 
ern pictures of the days before the railroads had crossed 
the Rockies. Hayden reported : "The greater portion of the 
collection is derived from the magnificent liberality of Wil- 
liam Blackmore, Esq., of London, England, the eminent an- 
thropologist who has for years studied closely the history, 
habits, and manners of the North American Indians." Black- 
more also was instrumental in aiding George Catlin to pre- 
serve his invaluable collection of Indian paintings. 

British and Dutch capital was attracted by promoters, 
such as Blackmore, who had visions of development of min- 
eral, agricultural and livestock resources, and of profit in 
railroad construction and the laying out of townsites. How- 
ever, according to Brayer, "Blackmore and his cohorts failed 
to realize the basic immobility of the country itself ... It 
was not an area that could be greatly altered by capital. 
After a hundred years of exploitation the land grant area 



80 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado is intrin- 
sically the same as it was when General Kearny seized it 
from Mexico." 

Blackmore was merely 37 years of age on his first visit 
to the United States early in 1864, when he proposed to the 
government in Washington, which was hard put financing 
the Civil War, that he would place in Europe half a billion 
dollars of five per cent bonds secured by public lands, an 
acre for each dollar of the issue. The proposal was rejected 
although at first favorably received. It is on this first visit 
that Blackmore formed friendships with eminent statesmen, 
legislators, financiers and military men, some of whom be- 
came associated later in his far-flung enterprises. 

Blackmore's second visit to the United States occurred 
in 1868 when he joined an official party inspecting the Union 
Pacific as far as it had been built in Wyoming. From there, 
he proceeded to the Mormon capital and studied the unique 
economy developed by the Church. Before returning to 
England he made several investments in railroads, lands 
and mines in the East and "established important contacts 
in political, financial and industrial circles in America." He 
had engaged Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden to make a survey of 
the Sangre de Cristo Grant, a domain of vast extent in 
southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, which had 
been owned by Carlos Beaubien and confirmed to him by 
Congress in 1860. Lucien Maxwell and his wife, Luz Beau- 
bien, Joseph Pley and James H. Quinn, acquired a three- 
sixth interest in the Grant. Pley's one-sixth was sold to 
Ceran St. Vrain for $1,000, the latter selling for $20,000 to 
Col. William Gilpin, who had been governor of Colorado. 
The Maxwells sold their interest to Gilpin for $6,000. Beau- 
bien's widow and other heirs received $15,000 for their por- 
tion, so that Gilpin became owner of the Grant, excepting 
the minor interest of James Quinn, whom he could not lo- 
cate, for something like four cents an acre. Maxwell, two 
years later, made a much better bargain in disposing of the 
Maxwell Grant, the story of which is told by W. A. Keleher 
in his recently published interesting book, "Maxwell Land 
Grant." 



BOOK REVIEWS 81 

It was the sale of the Sangre de Cristo Grant to Euro- 
pean capital which Blackmore undertook upon his return 
to England late in 1868. The Colorado Freehold Land and 
Emigration Company was incorporated in London to pur- 
chase the northern half of the Grant designated as the 
Trinchera Estate, the southern half being named the Cos- 
tilla Estate, which was conveyed to the United States Free- 
hold and Emigration Company. 

Though deeply involved also in floating the bonds of the 
Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1871, Blackmore, never- 
theless, embarked upon other land and financial enterprises 
in which purchase and development of the Cebolla, Los 
Luceros, Mora, Sebastian Martin, Ocate, Agua Negra, Rio 
Grande, Rio Colorado, Conejos, Ojo del Navajo, Tierra 
Amarilla, Preston Beck, Cieneguilla, Canyon de Chama and 
other land grants, covering millions of acres, were promoted. 
He visited Santa Fe and Taos repeatedly, contacting im- 
portant political figures such as Elkins, Catron, Holly, Jo- 
seph, Brevoort, Clever, Spiegelberg, Houghton, Watts, Wad- 
dingham. Blackmore later entertained Elkins and his bride 
in England, Elkins at that time being president of the First 
National Bank of Santa Fe, in which Catron, Holly and 
Watts were also financially interested. 

Brayer describes vividly the astounding manipula- 
tions, machinations, the multiplication of corporations, the 
colorful propaganda to dispose of securities and lands to 
English, Dutch and French investors and colonists, at 
the same time planning a great educational institution in 
the Rocky Mountain region which was to engage in scien- 
tific research and archaeological exploration. Blackmore's 
endeavor to find an "intelligent young Englishman" to take 
over the management of the Sangre de Cristo Grant and 
other properties, resulted in the selection of his young 
brother-in-law, Arthur Boyle, who had spent several years 
as a sheep operator in Australia and had also served as sec- 
retary to Sir Charles Johnson Brooks, second white Rajah 
of Sarawak. Boyle's salary was set at three hundred pounds 
sterling annually. The youthful manager and his wife ar- 
rived in the United States in 1877 and settled on the Sangre 



82 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

de Cristo Grant east of the San Luis Valley. Blackmore's 
financial difficulties and entanglements on three continents 
by that time had become embarrassing. His health broke 
and on April 12, 1878, when Blackmore was only 51 years, 
Blackmore's assistant in England reported that he had 
found ' 'Blackmore slumped over his desk with a bullet in 
his head." Boyle, deeming his task hopeless, soon there- 
after took up his residence in Santa Fe where he gained 
prominence. There Brayer was given access to Boyle's let- 
ters, ledgers, bills and miscellaneous materials by the late 
R. Veer Boyle, son of Arthur Boyle. 

Appendix, bibliography and index add to the importance 
of Volume 1 as a source for historical study. The illustra- 
tions from old photographs, some of them of Santa Fe, add 
to the interest of the book. 

In Volume II, Brayer traces the inception in 1870 of the 
Denver & Rio Grande Railway which was planned to link 
Denver and Santa Fe and thence to be built to El Paso into 
Mexico, Brayer's narrative covering the period to 1878, the 
year of Blackmore's death. The first papers of incorpora- 
tion were filed in Santa Fe, providing for capitalization of 
$20,000,000. The incorporators included Governor Pile, 
Joseph G. Palen, Stephen B. Elkins, Thomas B. Catron, John 
Pratt, General Asa B. Carey, the moving spirit of the enter- 
prise being General William Jackson Palmer, son of Quaker 
parents. Although only 34 years of age, he had already 
achieved prominence. Several years before, he had directed 
a survey of a feasible route from the Rio Grande to the 
Pacific along the 35th parallel by way of Albuquerque. 

In seeking to follow up the various ramifications of these 
early years of railroad building, Brayer was given "free 
and complete access to the corporate records of the Denver 
and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company," the only con- 
dition made by Henry Swan and Judge Wilson McCarthy, 
co-trustees of the railroad, being to "tell the truth all of it." 
And what a story of financial prestidigitation it discloses of 
those pioneer days when companies were organized under 
various names to finance the building of links of the road, 



BOOK REVIEWS 83 

when townsites were surveyed and bonded, including such 
eventually successful sites as present day Colorado Springs 
and Pueblo! In addition to the main line, seven branch 
routes were planned. The chief problem, of course, was one 
of finance and the solution had to be sought abroad. The 
Maxwell Grant, of which General Palmer was president, 
became the first instrumentality to furnish a credit basis. 
Wilson Waddingham, one of the then owners of the Grant, 
subscribed $50,000 cash and authorized Palmer to sell his 
Grant stock abroad, for a quarter million or so. 

A Colorado corporation, the Denver and Rio Grande 
Railroad, was now chartered with capital stock of $2,500,000. 
It was proposed to create a $6,500,000 thirty year 7% gold 
bond issue secured by a mortgage on "a non-existant rail- 
road with non-existant rolling stock and a non-existant right 
of way" as the author puts it, although the values were 
later to be realized by the creation of a construction com- 
pany "pool." Denver, at the head of the proposed line, had 
a population of 4,759, and Santa Fe, its proposed first ter- 
minus 4,765, according to the 1870 census. "Between these 
contemplated terminals there were some 10,000 widely 
scattered persons." To lessen the cost of construction and 
operation it was decided to make the railroad narrow gauge. 
General Palmer and his bride in England entrusted to Wil- 
liam Blackmore the task of placing the bond issue. Black- 
more's success in marketing Union Pacific securities and 
his disposing of a million dollars of bonds of the Costilla 
Estate to Dutch capitalists had marked him as a financial 
wizard who would be especially motivated to sell the Denver 
& Rio Grande bonds by the fact that the proposed narrow 
gauge road would pass over his land grant holdings and 
prospects in Colorado and New Mexico. The Union Contract 
Company was given the contract to build the entire line, 
875 miles, from Denver to El Paso, for which it was to re- 
ceive $14,000,000 first mortgage 1% gold bonds, $14,000,000 
in capital stock, plus such municipal, county, state and U. S. 
bonds as might be received in aid of construction, together 
with lands acquired by the railroad not needed for its fi- 



84 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

nancing and maintenance. Construction got under way 
promptly and the site of the future Colorado Springs was 
reached in what seemed record time, on October 27, 1871. 

The vicissitudes met, the difficulties overcome, the coloni- 
zation systems pioneered, the financing put over, as told by 
Brayer, make fantastic reading in this day and age. Black- 
more kept in close touch with developments including plans 
for working coal deposits and settlement of the Arkansas 
Valley. Lands were transferred from one syndicate to an- 
other, and various land improvement companies were or- 
ganized and financed. Pueblo became a boom town in which 
"building is going on with a rapidity never before known 
here, and 80 and 100 acre additions are extending the cor- 
porate limits," says one newspaper item. Promotion pam- 
phlets described in glowing terms the resources of the coun- 
try tributary to the railroad and its branches. 

Then financial depression struck. A three year grass- 
hopper plague destroyed crops and brought on a complete 
lack of demand for farm lands. Travel and immigration 
was curtailed. "When the railway company on April 30, 
1877, announced that it was necessary to default the interest 
due on its bonds on May 1," subsidiary corporations also 
felt the strain. Blackmore and his associates demanded an 
accounting, Blackmore's tragic death in 1878 providing 
only a temporary truce. It was not until 1902, that "thirty 
years of financial discord and contention" were brought 
to successful conclusion. 

The final chapter under the heading "The End Justifies 
the Means," reviews the phenomenal growth and develop- 
ment that came to Colorado from 1870 to 1880 and later 
years. It also speculates on what might have been had 
the British bondholders gone along with the enterprise to 
its probable eventual success, instead of forcing it into 
receivership which for the time being stopped most ex- 
pansion and development planned by the original builders. 
Today, the growth and prosperity of the cities, towns and 
country tributary to the railroad and its branches in Colo- 
rado from Denver to the San Luis valley, are a justification 
of the faith, persistence and daring of the courageous men 



BOOK REVIEWS 85 

who had envisioned the present results of their enterprise 
three quarters of a century ago, even though some of their 
desperate methods to achieve their end might not meet 
with the approval of present day financial ethics, laws and 
regulations. 

As in Volume I, appendices, bibliography and index 
attest to the workmanlike talents of the author. The two 
volumes printed in a limited and numbered edition of 500, 
are attractively bound. As source material on the eco- 
nomics and history of the Southwest they are indispensable 
to the present day student of the history of the Rocky Moun- 
tain region. P. A. F. W. 

Marshal of the Last Frontier: Life and Services of William 
Matthew (Bill) Tilghman for 50 years one of the great- 
est peace officers of the West. Zoe A. Tilghman. Glendale, 
California. Arthur H. Clark Co., 1949. Pp. 406. $7.50. 

Early New England preachers frequently warned their 
congregations against migrating to the West. They predicted 
that such a move would have a disastrous effect on the chil- 
dren of the emigrants. The fallacy of such reasoning is 
shown by the story of Bill Tilghman's career. 

Bill spent his early years in Iowa and Kansas, but his 
parents emigrated from the East from Maryland. At the 
age of eight, he became "the man of the family" when his 
father left the Kansas farm to fight for the Union. At home 
the boy learned to do the daily tasks, to forgive those who 
had wronged him, and to control himself. He developed into 
a man of powerful build and exceptional courage, but was 
generous and kindly and fond of children. Something in his 
family history warned him against liquor, and a quiet re- 
solve on his part led him to become known later as "the man 
who refused a million drinks." 

Having taken a profitable part in the slaughter of the 
buffalo, the experienced young plainsman found himself in 
the early seventies in southwestern Kansas. Dodge City was 
just getting started as a gay town where the cowboys turned 
their charges over to the railroad and went on a spree. 



86 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Half the population were gamblers or prostitutes. In such 
a region where there was little respect for law, Bill might 
have become a daring outlaw. Balzac, whose knowledge of 
human nature is said to have been second only to that of 
Shakespeare, has said that "a crime, in the first instance, 
is a defect in reasoning power." If the great French novel- 
ist was right in this, it seems likely that Tilghman could 
think as straight as he could shoot. His home life had given 
him a high standard of personal conduct, while a chance 
encounter with "Wild Bill" Hickok gave him a hero of whom 
he talked for weeks. Constant practice in shooting from his 
hip perfected a quick flick of the wrist and a coordination 
that made him a dangerous man with a gun. 

There was something in his eyes that made wrong-doers 
pause. Again and again society turned to him as the man 
to reduce a wild town or region to law and order. He was 
recognized not only as a picturesque character, but as one 
of the most noted peace officers of the Southwest. He served 
two Kansas counties as under-sheriff , then became marshal 
of Dodge City. When Oklahoma was opened up in the spring 
of 1889, Bill took part in the spectacular rush of settlers, and 
staked out a claim at Chandler, where he was soon raising 
thoroughbred horses. However, the chance to sell liquor 
to the Indians made the region an attractive one to outlaws, 
so Bill was soon pressed into government service. As deputy 
United States marshal, he helped to break up various gangs 
which overran the new territory. 

As Zoe Tilghman was Bill's second wife, it is not sur- 
prising to find that the biography is laudatory rather than 
critical. In all probability Mrs. Tilghman drew her husband 
a few shades more perfect than he was in actual life. While 
she claims to have made "extensive studies in the collections 
of the historical societies of Kansas and Oklahoma," she 
adds that the greater portion of her book is based on her 
husband's note-books and manuscripts. The book has an 
index, but no bibliography and few foot-notes. It is well- 
written, and will find readers wherever people are inter- 
ested in the spectacle of a strong man fighting for the right. 
University of New Mexico MARION DARGAN 



CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEW MEXICO 
(As amended Nov. 25, 1941) 

Article 1. Name. This Society shall be called the Historical Society 
of New Mexico. 

Article 2. Objects and Operation. The objects of the Society shall 
be, in general, the promotion of historical studies; and in particular, 
the discovery, collection, preservation, and publication of historical 
material especially such as relates to New Mexico. 

Article 3. Membership. The Society shall consist of Members, Fel- 
lows, Life Members and Honorary Life Members. 

(a) Members. Persons recommended by the Executive Council 
and elected by the Society may become members. 

(b) Fellows. Members who show, by published work, special 
aptitude for historical investigation may become Fellows. Immedi- 
ately following the adoption of this Constitution, the Executive 
Council shall elect five Fellows, and the body thus created may there- 
after elect additional Fellows on the nomination of the Executive 
Council. The number of Fellows shall never exceed twenty-five. 

(c) Life Members. In addition to life members of the Historical 
Society of New Mexico at the date of the adoption hereof, such other 
benefactors of the Society as shall pay into its treasury at one time 
the sum of fifty dollars, or shall present to the Society an equivalent 
in books, manuscripts, portraits, or other acceptable material of an 
historic nature, may upon recommendation by the Executive Council 
and election by the Society, be classed as Life Members. 

(d) Honorary Life Members. Persons who have rendered emi- 
nent service to New Mexico and others who have, by published work, 
contributed to the historical literature of New Mexico or the South- 
west, may become Honorary Life Members upon being recommended 
by the Executive Council and elected by the Society. 

Article 4. Officers. The elective officers of the Society shall be a 
president, a vice-president, a corresponding secretary, a treasurer, and 
a recording secretary; and these five officers shall constitute the 
Executive Council with full administrative powers. 

Officers shall qualify on January 1st following their election, and 
shall hold office for the term of two years and until their successors 
shall have been elected and qualified. 

87 



Article 5. Elections. At the October meeting of each odd-numbered 
year, a nominating committee shall be named by the president of the 
Society and such committee shall make its report to the Society at 
the November meeting. Nominations may be made from the floor 
and the Society shall, in open meeting, proceed to elect its officers by 
ballot, those nominees receiving a majority of the votes cast for the 
respective offices to be declared elected. 

Article 6. Dues. Dues shall be $3.00 for each calendar year, and 
shall entitle members to receive bulletins as published and also the 
Historical Review. 

Article 7. Publications. All publications of the Society and the selec- 
tion and editing of matter for publication shall be under the direction 
and control of the Executive Council. 

Article 8. Meetings. Monthly meetings of the Society shall be held 
at the rooms of the Society on the third Tuesday of each month at 
eight P. M. The Executive Council shall meet at any time upon call 
of the President or of three of its members. 

Article 9. Quorums. Seven members of the Society and three mem- 
bers of the Executive Council, shall constitute quorums. 

Article 10. Amendments. Amendments to this constitution shall be- 
come operative after being recommended by the Executive Council 
and approved by two-thirds of the members present and voting at 
any regular monthly meeting; provided, that notice of the proposed 
amendments shall have been given at a regular meeting of the Society, 
at least four weeks prior to the meeting when such proposed amend- 
ment is passed upon by the Society. 



88 





Historical Itgview 






-, 



City 




Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe 



April, 1950 



Editors 
FRANK D. REEVE PAUL A. F. WALTER 

Associates 

PERCY M. BALDWIN GEORGE P. HAMMOND 

FRANCE V. SCHOLES THEODOSIUS MEYER, O.F.M. 

ARTHUR J. 0. ANDERSON 

VOL. XXV APRIL, 1950 No. 2 



CONTENTS 

Page 

The Cowboy Sinner or Saint 

Clifford P. Westermeier 89 



Frederick E. Phelps: a Soldiers Memoirs (continued) 

Frank D. Reeve, editor 109 



Checklist of New Mexico Publications (continued) 

Wilma Loy Shelton 136 



Notes and Documents 162 

Book Reviews 165 



THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW is published jointly by the Historical Society 
of New Mexico and the University of New Mexico. Subscription to the quarterly is 
$3.00 a year in advance; single numbers, except those which have become scarce, are 
$1.00 each. 

Business communications should be addressed to Mr. P. A. F. Walter, State 
Museum, Santa Fe, N. M. ; manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be 
addressed to Prof. Frank D. Reeve, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. M. 

Entered as second-class matter at Santa Fe, New Mexico 
UNIVERSITY PRESS, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. 



NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL 
REVIEW 

VOL. XXV APRIL, 1950 No. 2 

THE COWBOY SINNER OR SAINT! 
By CLIFFORD P. WESTERMEIER* 

THE COWBOY is the central figure in the story of the Amer- 
ican cattle industry. He emerges as a romantic figure in 
American history, a dominant and vital figure in frontier 
life; his spirit is American and particularly western; thus, 
his life unfolds in an epic around the greatest pastoral move- 
ment in the history of the world. During the short span of 
years, from 1866 to the end of the century, the cowboy left 
an indelible mark upon American culture and the West from 
which he cannot be separated. True, those who write about 
him grace him with an aura of romance and sentimentality ; 
true, he has been cast in a mould of courage, violence and 
sudden death, of steadfastness and nobility, of blind devotion 
and even of dark deeds, but he nevertheless remained the 
guardian of the West. His story is one of struggle. 

Sentimentalists mourn the passing of the Old West. 
They mourn the passing of the Men on Horseback, those 
Titans clad in buckskins, flopping hats and boots, and they 
chant a dirge for the trail which has passed through the 
sunset. 

All has vanished ? So they say but this is not true ! The 
Old West has grown from infancy to boyhood and now to 
manhood ; it did not die, nor did it disappear. The Old West 
is still here as a part of the New West a sturdier West in 
new clothing, with a new vocabulary and new interests. 

The migration was essentially from East to West 



* Dr. Westermeier is Associate Professor of History at Loretto Heights College, 
Loretto, Colorado. 

89 



90 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

explorers, missionaries, hunters, traders, goldseekers, and 
homesteaders. However, coming from the South, the cattle 
and their cowboy drivers bisected, in their northward drive, 
the westward march of American civilization and, more than 
any other movement, imprinted on the West its character. 
Out of this dramatic conflict developed the cattle industry. 
Little is to be said of that drama, for this is an account of 
the actors who played the important roles and how they 
appeared to the spectators of that time. 

In the course of years thick volumes have been published 
which tell the story of the cowboy. The names of Siringo, 
Santee, Adams, Hough, Rollins, James, Dobie, Coolidge, Lo- 
max, and King are familiar. Other special studies about the 
cattle industry, cattle wars, horses, bad men, vigilantes, 
rustlers, desperadoes, Indian fighters, two-gun sheriffs, 
buffalo hunters, the authors of which are too numerous to 
mention, also included a character study of the cowboy, his 
equipment, and his work. In addition, there are innumerable 
autobiographical and reminiscent accounts of old-time cattle 
men and cowboys who, in preserving their memoirs, have 
made vital contributions to the character of the cowboy. 
Of these old-time cowboys few are left who were in their 
prime in the years between 1866 and 1895. Also, one must 
not neglect that vast collection of cowboy literature fiction 
and nonfiction the dime novels and western 'thrillers' 
which are classified as sub-literary. 

With the exception of the latter two, the dime novel and 
the western 'thriller/ which appear shortly after the Civil 
War, the preponderance of cowboy literature historical, 
autobiographical and fictional is the product of the last 
four decades. The great majority of these authors have mag- 
nified the glamorous and romantic side of the cowboy's life 
to such an extent that his real mission, and more often his 
character, are lost under a welter of inaccuracies. To assume 
that the whole truth about the cowboys has been completely 
told is as inaccurate as to assume that there are no cowboys 
today. This study is an attempt to portray the true picture 
of the cowboy as found in the writings of contemporaries in 



THE COWBOY 91 

newspapers, diaries, letters, periodicals, and also in books 
which, in most cases, were published before the turn of the 
century. 

Just when the term coivboy was applied to the men who 
made a life work of tending cattle is a matter of conjecture. 
However, during the American Revolution the name cowboy 
was tagged to a group of American Tories who played havoc 
with the stock of the Whigs and Loyalists by swooping into 
their districts of occupation to steal cattle. 1 

In 1814 the cattle driven from certain districts in the 
Southern states came in contact with and infected healthy 
cattle. Later, in 1837, legislation was enacted in North Caro- 
lina which prevented the driving of cattle from South Caro- 
lina or Georgia to that state from the first day of April to 
the first day of November. However, no mention is made of 
the drivers or herders, but it may be assumed they were 
cowboys. 2 

At first it appears that the cowboy was looked upon as 
a curiosity. His arrival in a town invariably caused comment 
in the next issue of the local paper, and often these items 
were reprinted in newspapers of surrounding towns. The 
comments usually concerned his skill in handling cattle, the 
dangers involved, and occasionally his skill in riding was 
mentioned. Notes of criticism of this 'stranger' crept into 
some of the early writings. 

An interesting letter, written over a hundred years ago, 
mentions the cowboy, his work, and also the beginning of 
his sport the rodeo. It was written by Captain Mayne Reid 
to Samuel Arnold of Drumnakelly, Seaforde, County Down, 
Ireland. It was inscribed, "Santa Fe, 10th June, 1847." Cap- 
tain Reid wrote : 

The town from which I write is quaint; of the Spanish style of 
building and reposes in a great land kissed by the southern sun. You 
have cows in old Ireland, but you never saw cows. Yes, millions of 
them here, I am sure, browsing on the sweet long grass of the ranges 



1. Encyclopedia Americana (New York, 1937), 133. Webster's New International 
Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed. unabridged (Springfield, Mass., 1945), 614. 

2. "Texas Fever, Splenetic Fever, or Southern Cattle Fever," Yearbook of the 
United States Department of Agriculture (1899), 124-125. 



92 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

that roll from horizon to horizon. At this time of year the cowmen have 
what is called the round-up, when the calves are branded and the fat 
beasts selected to be driven to a fair hundreds of miles away. 

The round-up is a great time for the cowhands, a Donneybrook 
fair it is, indeed. They contest with each other for the best roping and 
throwing, and there are horse races and whiskey and wines. At night 
in the clear moonlight there is much dancing on the streets. 3 

As the cattle were driven out of Texas, fear of the cattle 
fever swept over the areas through which they passed. The 
Messenger, a newspaper of Hannibal, Missouri, on July 10, 
1858, gives an account of the cattle stampedes and difficul- 
ties encountered by the drivers in rounding them up. The 
problem of the drivers, however, was not confined to the 
herding of fine Texas cattle through the city streets and to 
the quelling of stampedes. These men were opposed on all 
sides by the farmers and settlers who feared that the disease 
might spread to the domesticated cattle. 4 

In addition to human interference from both white and 
red men, the trials inflicted by nature on the drives were 
almost unbelievable. One of the most vivid accounts appears 
in the diary of George C. Duffield. In the spring of 1866, 
Duffield started the long drive from southern Texas to Chari- 
ton, Iowa. This is probably one of the most interesting 
diaries of a day-by-day account of a cattle drive. It is full of 
woe and hardships and although it is the story of one 
man, it is also the story of all men who followed this haz- 
ardous occupation, the story of their courage, daring, and 
resourcefulness. 5 

Not all the excitement which surrounded the cowboy took 
place on the long drives. Upon arriving in the cowtowns at 
the end of the drives, the 'boys* found themselves the center 



8. Letter in the manuscript collection of Colin Johnston Robb, Drumharriff 
Lodge, Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland. See Westermeier, C. P., MAN, BEAST, 
DUST: The Story of Rodeo (Denver, Colorado, 1947), 34. Evidently this type of 
frivolity had been going on for some time. An article entitled "The Santa Fe Trade," 
appeared in the Missouri Republican deploring life in that gay southwestern city. It 
says : "A majority of the Traders invest in the trade from $100 to $600 ; these 
capitalists live cheaply upon buffalo, and improve their habits and morals among the 
in every way vicious, and lascivious inhabitants of Santa Fe." Missouri Republican, 
February 16, 1830. 

4. Report of Missouri State Board of Agriculture ( 1866 ) , 20. Missouri Statesman 
(Columbia), June 24, 1859. Laws of Missouri 24th G. A., 1st Sess. (1867), 128. 

6. Annals of Iowa, 14, no. 4, (Des Moines, Iowa, 1924). 



THE COWBOY 93 

of attraction and confusion. 6 The editor of the Cheyenne 
Daily Leader comments cautiously ; perhaps even curiously : 

It is a very entertaining sight to see a bull-whacker seated astride 
of a broncho horse, that has but a limited acquaintance with his 
rider, or the rough uses, that he is to be put to; and with Spanish 
spurs roweling the life out of the poor brute, nearly, and making him 
rear his ends in the air, alternately, while an idle crowd gather to wit- 
ness and curse the exhibition made by both horse and rider. 

We are induced to speak thus, in consequence of having witnessed 
a display of such a horse and such a rider, on Tuesday evening, near 
the corner of Seventeenth and Ferguson streets. There was quite a 
crowd and some quiet swearing. But would not such exhibitions be in 
better taste out on the prairie? Suppose one of these bronchos should 
run up the side of a brick building to the roof, or up a telegraph pole 
to the cross-bars and insulators, would the rider keep his seat? These 
bronchos are liable to do these things ; we have known them to do worse 
things. 7 

A decade later, the same newspaper tells of an unfortu- 
nate cowboy who was attacked by a steer and badly dis- 
figured, and owed his life to the fact that the widespread 
long horns straddled his head as he lay prostrate on the 
ground. 8 

In explaining the riding prowess of a cowboy, a news- 
paper correspondent attempts to educate the reading public 
of his paper with a vivid and lurid description of "How 
Cowboys Ride" : 

The cowboy is the real horseman. He keeps his seat under circum- 
stances that would result in unhorsing any one not having much nerve 
and constant practice. When a yearling steer held by a rope to the 
pommel jerks the saddle half-way round the body, the cowboy must 
stay on the pony or run the gauntlet of wild steers and scared pony. 
When the half -tamed broncho, just caught from a "cavvy" of one or 
two hundred horses, indulges in ten minutes' spell of bucking, the 
cowboy must keep his seat or have a rebellious pony always on his 
string. When the cowboy dashed after a running steer, and the steer 
turns like a billiard ball, when it hits a cushion, the cowboy must 



6. "A small army of cowboys filed into town yesterday afternoon. They were 
direct from Texas, having come up with Driskill's herd. Later in the evening they left 
for Sturgis, where they were paid. About $4,000 were distributed among them." 
"Ranch, Range and Herds," Cheyenne Daily Leader, Thursday, August 31, 1882. 

7. Tuesday, September 11, 1873. 

8. "Cowboys and Texas Cattle in the Stock Yards," Cheyenne Daily Leader, 
Wednesday, August 2, 1882. 



94 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

turn with the pony, who THUS with the steer, and not shoot over his 
head. When the pony stands on his hind legs "on a ten plate," and 
paws the air with his fore feet, the cowboy must cling to him. 9 

Many actual stories arise from the daily work of the 
cowboy. Early in the year of 1889, a graphic report of a 
fight between sheepherders and cowboys in the mountains 
near Albuquerque, New Mexico, states : 

From a Mr. Edwards, a sheep-raiser in the mountains, it is learned 
that a terrible hand-to-hand conflict, in which pistols and knives were 
used, took place the other evening between the sheepherders from Sam 
Lund's ranch and cowboys supposed to work for W. B. Slaughter. The 
battle resulted in the killing of two and the wounding of four sheep- 
herders. The sheriff has left for the scene with a posse heavily armed, 
and it is predicted that more murders will be committed. 10 

Later in the year, an account from Folsom, New Mexico, 
appears in the same newspaper. It speaks of a recent blizzard 
which had swept over eastern Colorado and northern New 
Mexico. On the night in question, Henry Miller, the range 
foreman of Colonel R. G. Head, with several cowboys, had 
camped near Sierra Grand with 1,800 beef cattle. About 4 
o'clock the next morning the blizzard struck the camp and 
drove the cattle toward the Panhandle of Texas. The cow- 
boys were unable to hold the cattle and the snow was so 
blinding in its intensity that it was impossible to see fifty 
feet ahead. The cowboys attempted to bunch the cattle to 
prevent them from wandering, but, in so doing, the men be- 
came separated. Late the next day one cowboy finally reached 
Head's ranch and told his story. A rescue party was sent 
out and found the frozen bodies of Henry Miller, Joe Martin, 
and Charlie Jolly not far from Folsom. The other men finally 
succeeded in making their way back to camp before suc- 
cumbing to the cold. 11 

While the blizzard was taking its toll in New Mexico, a 
scene, less disastrous but no less exciting, took place in Kan- 
sas City. It is described in a newspaper article, "Steers on 
the Rampage," which states : 

9. Cheyenne Daily Leader, Friday, June 29, 1883. 

10. The Republic (St. Louis, Missouri), January 8, 1889. 

11. "Cowboys Frozen," Ibid.. November 7, 1889. 



THE COWBOY 95 

A scene of frontier excitement occurred in this city today. It lasted 
for five hours and during that time a herd of stampeded Texas steers 
had possession of the thoroughfares in an area about two miles square. 
A number of persons were tossed on the horns of the infuriated beasts 
and before the herd was corralled again three of the number had been 
killed. 

This morning eight cowboys started with a drove of cattle from the 
stockyards, bound for Clay County, across the Missouri River. The 
steers refused to cross the bridge, and, upon being urged, stampeded. 
Then the excitement began. The herd had proceeded down Bluff street 
for two squares at a clattering pace, clearing all before it, when four 
of the cowboys, with frontier foresight, cut around a block and 
headed it off. Before the cattle were driven back and corralled at the 
river's bank, eight of them had broken away from the herd and had 
started on a tour of the city. At Broadway and Bluff street one of the 
cowboys succeeded in lassoing one of the refractory animals but could 
not control the animal. The steer started for the river, the cowboy still 
on his pony and still holding the lasso. At the bluff, about 25 feet over 
the river, the cowboy refused to go further, but the pony and steer 
plunged over into the water below. Both swam ashore uninjured. 12 

The character studies of the cowboy by his contempo- 
raries not only arouse great interest but are also very reveal- 
ing. However, one must remember that in many cases these 
are the opinions of individual persons. Thus, a pattern of 
black or white is developed, that is, a pattern of the cowboy, 
'sinner or saint' ; nevertheless, the circumstances surround- 
ing these individual experiences with the men of the plains 
condition their statements. 

Charles W. Webber in his Tales of the Southern Border 
writes : 

The cowboys were, in short, considered as banditti before the revo- 
lution, and have been properly considered so since. This term "Cowboy" 
was even then and still more emphatically, later one name for many 
crimes ; since those engaged in it were mostly outlaws confessedly, and 
if not so at the beginning, were always driven into outlawry by the 
harsh and stern contingencies of their pursuit. . . , 13 

Following the 'sinner' theme, that is that all cowboys 
were bad outlaws and criminals, 14 a writer for the Topeka 



12. The Republic (St. Louis, Missouri), November 7, 1889. 

13. (Philadelphia, 1853), 124. 

14. "An unknown cowboy robbed the Turtle Mountain Bank at Dunsheith on 
Friday and escaped to the mountains with $1,000. The robber shortly after returned 



96 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Commonwealth expresses his opinion in "The Texas Cattle 
Herder" : 

The Texas cattle herder is a character, the like of which can be 
found nowhere else on earth. Of course he is unlearned and illiterate, 
with but few wants and meager ambitions. His diet is principally navy 
plug and whiskey and the occupation dearest to his heart is gambling. 
... He generally wears a revolver on each side of his person, which 
he will use with as little hesitation on a man as on a wild animal. 
Such a character is dangerous and desperate and each one has gen- 
erally killed his man. . . . They drink, swear, and fight, and life with 
them is a round of boisterous gayety and indulgence in sensual 
pleasure. 15 

Joseph G. McCoy's character sketch of the cowboy is well 
known. In his book Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade of 
the West and Southwest, he sums up, with delicate skill, the 
man of the plains: The cowboy "loves tobacco, liquor, and 
women better than any other trinity." 16 

McCoy also writes about the frontier town, the town at 
the end of the cattle trails at the rail heads. Here the cow- 
boy finds himself after several lonely isolated months on the 
range or cattle drive. In his comments, McCoy seems to feel 
that the cowboys and the characters who swarm to these 
centers are to blame for the deplorable conditions which exist 
there. Men who had lived with dirt, danger, and death for 
endless months found what gaiety they could in these oases 
of civilization. 17 The puritanical background of this author 
comes to the fore in these critical accounts, yet he instigated 
the movement to make Abilene, Kansas, the first cowtown ! 
His moral principles were confused. 

Similar opinions are expressed in a short article appear- 
ing in the Washington Star: 

In the cow towns those nomads in regions remote from the restraint 
of moral, civic, social, and law enforcing life, the Texas cattle drovers, 
from the very tendencies of their situations the embodiment of way- 
wardness and wantonness, and the journey with their herds, loiter 

to town and attempted to rob a store, but a crowd gathered, ran him down and 
killed him." Calgary Weekly Herald, Wednesday, June 21, 1893. 

15. (Topeka, Kansas), August 15, 1871. 

16. (Glendale, California, 1940), 85. 

17. Ibid., 205-206, 209. 



THE COWBOY 97 

and dissipate, sometimes for months, and share the boughten dalli- 
ances of fallen women. 18 

Another writer expresses himself about the cowboy in 
the following terms : 

As you mingle with these cowboys, you find them a strange mix- 
ture of good nature and recklessness. You are as safe with them on the 
plains as with any class of men, so long as you do not impose upon 
them. They will even deny themselves for your comfort, and imperil 
their lives for your safety. But impose upon them, or arouse their ire, 
and your life is of no value in their esteem than that of a coyote. 
Morally, as a class, they are toulemouthed, [sic] blasphemous, drunken, 
lecherous, utterly corrupt. Usually harmless on the plains when sober, 
they are dreaded in towns, for then liquor has the ascendency over 
them. They are also as improvident as the veriest "Jack" of the sea. 
Employed as cow-boys only six months in the year from May till 
November their earnings are soon squandered in dissolutions, and 
then they hunt, or get odd jobs, to support themselves until another 
season begins. They are never cumbered with baggage. They never 
own any interest in the stock they tend. This dark picture of the cow- 
boys ought to be lightened by the statement that there is occasionally 
a white sheep among the black. True and devoted Christians are found 
in such company men who kneel down regularly and offer their 
prayers in the midst of their bawdy and cursing associates. They are 
like Lot in Sodom. 19 

Probably one of the most interesting- items appears in 
Alex M. Barley's book, The Passionists of the Southwest. 
It is certainly not typical of the cowboy, that is the Anglo- 
American, but it is so unusual that it should be included : 

A prominent cattleman Horton of Texas sends the following to 
the Sun of New York, and it is to be supposed that it occurred in Texas ; 
though, if so, it is the only Texas case of which the author of this 
book knows : 

"They say the Mexican is disposed to flagellation, that nothing 
so prepossesses him, however grave can be his responsibilities. 



18. "Social Influences in the West," Washington Star (Washington, D. C.), 
January 1, 1878. 

19. "The Cow-boys of the Western Plains and Their Horses," Cheyenne Daily 
Leader, October 3, 1882. 

Most of the cowboy's profanity is unprintable. You would get an entirely new 
idea what profanity meant if you heard it. "The remotest, most obscure and unheard-of 
conceptions from heaven, earth, and hell, are linked together in a sequence so original, 
so gaudy, and so utterly blasphemous that you gasp and are stricken with the most 
devoted admiration. It is genius. ... it would liberalize your education." White, 
Stewart E., "The Mountains, XIX. On Cowboys," Outlook, 78 (September 3, 1904), 84. 



98 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

I have seen a herd of three thousand head scattered in all directions 
in the midst of a storm, and enormous losses suffered because at the first 
thunder-clap all the cow-boys, without exception, kneeled in order to 
flagellate themselves till they made blood flow, invoking the divine 
mercy. 

"When the idea of giving himself to this exercise overcomes one of 
these cow-boys, whether in the road or in the desert, he knows no one 
nor anything, and the cries he utters as he strikes himself frighten 
his flock, which flees at the gallop." 20 

Even the chief executive of our nation was concerned 
about the conduct of the cowboy in the southwestern terri- 
tories. Chester A. Arthur, shortly after assuming his duties 
as president, gave expression to his worries of cowboy depre- 
dations. His message to Congress dated December 6, 1881, 
states : 

The Acting Attorney-General also calls attention to the disturb- 
ances of the public tranquility during the past year in the Territory of 
Arizona. A band of armed desperadoes, known as "Cow Boys," prob- 
ably numbering from fifty to one hundred men, have been engaged for 
months in committing acts of lawlessness and brutality which the local 
authorities have been unable to repress. The depredations of these 
"Cow Boys" have also extended into Mexico which the marauders 
reach from the Arizona frontier. With every disposition to meet the 
exigencies of the case, I am embarrassed by lack of authority to deal 
with them effectually. 21 

This is probably the blackest side of the 'sinner.' It is the 
cowboy painted in dark and scarlet colors against the flaming 
and lurid canvas of the frontier. His detractors are willing 
to admit that their victim strode with titanic grandeur 
across the stage the desert, plains, plateaus, mountains, 
and brush country yet, the cowboy may not diverge one 
iota from the conventional pattern of men. They forget that 
the cattle kingdom was a world in itself and had a culture of 
its own. During a span of thirty years this kingdom engraved 
itself on the Great Plains and upon American culture, and 
necessarily also upon the chief actor of the drama the 
cowboy. 



20. The Passionists of the Southwest, or The Holy Brotherhood (Pueblo, Colo- 
rado, 1893), 49. 

21. Poore, Ben Perley, ed. Chester A. Arthur, Message from the President of the 
United States to the Two Houses of Congress, December 6, 1881 (Washington, D. C., 
1881), 20. 



THE COWBOY 99 

The cowboy was different, not by choice but because of 
his environment. He had been forged from the ore of the 
frontier. His life was a logical one, and if romance and gla- 
mor surround him, it is because those who created the 
literary cowboy also created the halo. They failed to make 
a distinction between work and play. They failed utterly 
and completely to realize that the cowboy ever worked, for 
the age was fabulous, the longhorns were spectacular, the 
drives were romantic and dangerous, and the cowboys were 
picturesque. 

After the first amiable curiosity about the cowboy had 
worn off, he apparently was looked upon with distrust and 
suspicion and was often maligned by his contemporaries. 
This attitude toward him changes during the latter part of 
his day and especially when the cattle industry becomes a 
big business, and attracts people from all over the world to 
invest their money. Now one can find many statements in 
praise of the cowboy which have a ring of sincerity and are 
very refreshing. 

General James S. Brisbin of the United States Army 
urges youth to 'go West' : 

The West! The Mighty West! That land where the buffalo still 
roams and the wild savage dwells; where the broad rivers flow and 
the boundless prairie stretches away for thousands of miles . . . 
where the poor, young man finds honor and wealth. . . , 22 

Another article written by Fred J. Stanton for the Chey- 
enne Daily Leader is of a similar vein, but touches more di- 
rectly on the cowboy : 

I have met among these stockmen highly educated men, as herders, 
whose essays on literature would throw into the deepening shade some 
of the sentimental so-called aesthetic sickly nonsense which society calls 
poetry. 

If you wish to do so, you can find as highly educated and refined 
gentlemen among the "old settlers" and "cowpunchers" of the many 
years ago, of these arid plains, as they were formerly called, as you 
can in those who come now in their Pullman cars, with Oscar Wilde 
aesthetic manners, accompanied with Patchoulli, [sic] Essence de 
Miilefleurs [sic] or seal skin sacques. 

22. The Beef Bonanza; or, How to Get Rich on the Plains (Philadelphia, 1881), 
13-14. 



100 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Let me travel among these plains, and call at their cabins, the 
dugouts or tents of these stockmen or "cowpunchers" as they familiarly 
style themselves, and I find them, as a class, the soul of honor, punctili- 
ously so, and you cannot insult them more than by an offer to pay for 
a meal or a bed. Go to the east, and they charge you five cents for a 
glass of milk. Whiskey I never met in a western "cowpunchers" camp 
in more than one case in twenty. 23 

Another writer, Alfred Henry Lewis, seems to have a 
concise and direct opinion about the man of the plains. In 
his Wolfville Nights, he writes : 

On the range the cowboy is quiet, just and peaceable. There are 
neither women nor cards nor rum about the cow camps. The ranches 
and the boys themselves banish the two latter; and the first won't 
come. Women, cards and whiskey, the three war causes of the West, are 
confined to the towns. 24 

Baron Walter von Richthofen makes a pertinent state- 
ment: "Among cowboys are to be found the sons of the best 
families, who enjoy this romantic, healthy, and free life on 
the prairie." 25 

Nat Love, who disapproved of the manner in which 
writers had portrayed him, gives his own opinion in his Life 
and Adventures: "I was not the wild blood-thirsty savage 
and all around bad man many writers have pictured me in 
their romances, yet I was wild, reckless and free, afraid of 
nothing, that is nothing I ever saw. . . , 26 

The Reverend Cyrus Townsend Brady, writing of his 
missionary experiences in the West, says : 

I am very fond of the genuine cow-boy, now fast disappearing. 
I've ridden and hunted with him, eaten and laughed with him, camped 
and slept with him, wrestled and prayed with him, and I always found 
him a rather good sort, fair, honorable, generous, kindly, loyal to his 
friends, his own worst enemy. The impression he makes on civilization 
when he rides through a town in a drunken revel, shooting miscel- 
laneously at everything, is a deservedly bad one, I grant you; but 
you should see him on the prairie in a round-up or before a stampede. 
There he is a man and a hero ! 27 



23. Thursday, May 25, 1882. 

24. (New York, 1902), 11. 

25. Cattle-Raising on the Plains (New York, 1885), 19. 

26. The Life and Adventures of Nat Love (Los Angeles, California, 1907), 70. 

27. Recollections of a Missionary in the Great West (New York, 1900), 62. 



THE COWBOY 101 

One of the pathetic experiences which Reverend Brady 
relates is the story of the death of a young ranchman and 
cowboy : 

After one of the blizzards, a young ranchman who had gone into 
the nearest town, some twenty miles away, to get some Christmas 
things for his wife and little ones, was found frozen to death on 
Christmas morning, his poor little packages of petty Christmas gifts 
tightly clasped in his cold hands lying by his side. His horse was frozen, 
too, and when they found it, hanging to the horn of the saddle was a 
little piece of an evergreen-tree you would throw it away in contempt 
in the East, it was so puny. There it meant something. The love of 
Christmas? It was there in his dead hands. The spirit of Christmas? 
It showed itself in that bit of verdant pine over the lariat at the saddle- 
bow of the poor bronco. 

Do they have a Christmas out West? Well, they have it in their 
hearts, if no place else, and, after all, that is the place above all others 
where it should be. 28 

In Reminiscences of a Ranchman, Edgar Bronson draws 
a vigorous picture of meal time around a chuck wagon. He 
shows the cowboy as a hungry man after a hard day's work 
and his word picture carries a sense of rugged reality : 

. A merry fire blazed at the tail end of the chuck wagon. About it were 
sitting sixteen punchers, feeding from tin plates and cups, gorging on 
beans, beef, and baking powder biscuits, washed down with coffee 
strong enough to float an egg; men with ferocious hunger of the wolf, 
and the case-hardened stomach of the ostrich. They were of all ages 
from sixteen to sixty, but most of them under thirty, all grimy with 
dust, and several reeking with the blood of the day's work in corrals. 
. . . While no life of greater privation and hardship than the cow- 
boy's ever existed, unless that in the forecastle of a windjammer, no 
merrier, jollier lot ever lived, always "joshing" each other, turning 
a jest on every condition in life, from the cradle to grave, but one 
home and mammy, a subject on which tones always lowered, eyes 
softened and sometimes grew misty. 29 

Bronson writes interestingly about the cowboy ; however, 
at times he writes so glowingly and romantically that he pic- 
tures the plainsman as a "knight of the Golden Fleece." 30 
Readers of Western Americana are well aware of Sister 



28. Ibid., 184-185. 

29. (New York, 1908), 30-31. 

30. Ibid., 297. 



102 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Blandina Segale's encounter with a cowboy on her way to 
Trinidad, Colorado : 

By descriptions I have read I knew he was a cowboy! With crushing 
vividness "No virtuous woman is safe near a cowboy" came to me. 
I made an act of contrition concentrated my thoughts on the presence 
of God thought of the Archbishop's blessing, "Angels guard your 
steps," and moved to such position as would put my heart in range with 
his revolver. I expected he would speak I answer he fire. The agony 
endured cannot be written. The silence and suspense unimaginable. 31 

Will James gives us a wistful description of his counter- 
part the man he knows so well and about whom he has 
written so often. A cowboy himself, James shows both sides 
of his colleagues. Usually, he leaves the reader with a feeling 
of good will toward the cowboy. He also offers an explana- 
tion for a better understanding of the cowboy in emphasizing 
the big-hearted, generous, kind-hearted and human qualities 
of the cowboy, yet noting that he is subject to all human 
frailties. 32 

James observed with keen insight one other important 
clue to a more thorough understanding of the cowboy. He 
makes no excuses for the cowboy, but at the same time he 
points out that too often the renegade from the North and 
East, who came in contact with the 'native cowboy,' gave him 
a bad name. 33 

Major W. Shepherd observed that the greatest enemy of 
the range cattle industry was the plough. The coming of the 
farmer had turned parts of Kansas and Nebraska into culti- 
vated areas; the stock withdrew and disappeared into the 
mountains and rough country. Shepherd writes in 1885 : 

Almost the whole of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho are still unset- 
tled, and in these territories the cattle business is still carried on 
somewhat in the old style. Formerly the man who shouted loudest, 
galloped hardest, and was quickest in drawing his "gun," was consid- 
ered the most dashing cow-boy; if he had come up on the Texas trail, 

31. Letter inscribed "Trinidad, Dec. 10, 1872." Segale, Sister Blandina, At the 
End of the Santa Fe Trail (Milwaukee, 1948), 29. (The conversation which took place 
between the nun and the cowboy is probably one of the most mirth-provoking on 
record. ) 

32. James, W. S., Cow-Boy Life in Texas or 27 Years a Maverick (Chicago, 
1893), 38. 

33. Ibid.. 46. 



THE COWBOY 103 

and had failed to kill his man, he was held to have wasted his oppor- 
tunities. But times are changing; it is only in the south, for instance 
Arizona, where the term cow-boy is equivalent to desperado; in the 
north the men on the ranges are as good as any class of Americans. The 
increased value of the cattle has introduced more care and gentler 
handling in their management. 34 

A newspaper correspondent of the Fort Worth Journal 
spent a quiet Sunday at a ranch with the cowboys. During 
the afternoon a game of cards was played, and the outcome 
is humorously but effectively expressed in the evening service 
in the following prayer : 

Oh, Lord! we haven't got much to worry Thee about on this occa- 
sion, as things are running pretty smooth in this part of Thy moral 
range. The range is pretty good, water is not very scarce, the cattle are 
looking fine and the calf crop is panning out amazingly, and we are not 
the kind of boys to come begging to the throne of grace for little things 
we can rustle for ourselves. We might state, oh, Lord! that it hasn't 
rained here for some time, and that we are soon going to need some 
moisture, but there is nobody hurt yet, and we suppose that the matter 
will be duly looked after. Lord, if and according with Thy divine 
pleasure and opinions of how a decent game should be conducted, 
forgive Pitts Neal for stealing out that ace full which he wickedly 
played against my flush, but if it so be that Thou art on to his many 
sins and much iniquity as the rest of us are, and seest fit to give him 
a little sample of Thy divine wrath, Lord, let it please Thee to place in 
his hands a diamond flush and cause him to buck against Thy servant, 
who shall be provided with a jack full. But, Lord, in this operation, it 
will be necessary to exercise a good deal of care lest he steal out four 
queens and scoop in the shekels of Thy servant, for verily he is mighty 
to pilfer, and in that case Lord, there would be an uproar thereabout, 
and crushed and broken bones, and moreover a great deal of faith would 
be shaken and lost, and Thy servant would perhaps backslide the length 
of many Sabbath journeys. So mote it be Ahem. 

After the devotional exercises were over Pitts Neal was heard to 
remark that he'd be darned if he played in the game with Luther again. 
He said he wasn't afraid that any one man could play dirt on him, but 
that he wasn't going to play against the entire kingdom of Heaven 
and all the boys too. 35 

During the Cattlemen's Conventions of 1884 and 1885 in 
St. Louis, Missouri, the cowboy comes under close scrutiny 



34. Shepherd, R. E. t Major W., Prairie Experiences in Handling Cattle and Sheep 
(New York, 1885), 23, 25. 

35. Cheyenne Daily Leader, Thursday, October 4, 1883. 



104 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

of his contemporaries. Already there appears that softening 
of expression about the cowboy which was mentioned earlier. 
However, this opinion is not universal. 

Many notables were in attendance at the Convention of 
1884: Joseph G. McCoy, M. R. Lovell, Charles Goodnight, 
B. H. Sandburn, C. C. Slaughter, George B. Loving, John 
Clay, Granville Stuart, Colonel King, and Captain Pat Gar- 
rett, who killed Billy the Kid. 36 

Among the famous guests was General Sherman who 
gave a short speech and concluded with the words : "I, my- 
self, have seen the cowboys of Arizona, New Mexico, and 
Colorado and can say that they are a brave lot of fellows, a 
little wild perhaps (laughter) but on the whole with the im- 
pulses of generous and manly nature." 37 

There was a sincere appreciation of the change in the 
status of the men who, less than two decades before, had 
started out to conquer the plains and build from them a 
mighty empire. In the Missouri Republican of November 18, 
1884 this statement appears : 

As a rule the delegates are fine specimens of manhood; erect and 
broad shouldered with faces and hands browned by exposure to the 
bracing atmosphere of the plains and muscles hardened by active exer- 
cise. The great majority of the men have acquired wealth in the cattle 
industry and many have risen from the comparatively humble position 
of cowboy to millionaire. It is said that quite a considerable number 
have commenced life in the Far West with almost nothing and risen 
to prominent places through hard work and strict attention to business. 
A finer body of men physically as well as mentally has never assembled 
in the city. 

During the Convention of 1884, questions arose concern- 
ing the authenticity of the Cowboy Band, which was in much 
demand for social functions and parades, and the costumes 
worn by the members. There were arguments on both sides 
regarding this point, and a delegate from Colorado finally 
expressed his opinion : 

We feel that the cowboy band is out of place as long as they persist 
in making a parade of their leggings and revolvers. It is painfully true 
that people in the East had been led to believe that a greater portion 



36. Missouri Republican, November 16, 1884 ; November 17, 1884. 

37. Ibid., November 18, 1884. 



THE COWBOY 105 

of cattlemen of Southwest and West are as a rule desperate characters; 
and that we roam about over the prairies armed to the teeth with 
knives and revolvers. We want to dispel this idea as it places us in a 
false light before the world. Years ago when likely to meet a bunch 
of Indians, we were required to go heavily armed when we followed 
our cattle. Times have changed and the necessity for revolvers no 
longer exists. On many ranches cowboys are not allowed to carry 
revolvers. Today the average cowboy is as good an average American 
citizen as can be found anywhere in America. 38 

In 1885, Mr. Lapham of Chicago, representing the Hide 
and Leather Dealers, appeared before the Convention to 
make an appeal for moderation in branding. His speech was 
most indiscreet because of the type of men in his audience. 
He told them that no where in the world was so little care 
taken to save the hide from excessive branding as in the Far 
West. He pleaded that they be at least as careful as the half- 
civilized neighbors to the South and the uncivilized natives 
of Asia and Africa. A little care would save them much 
money each year. 39 

However, the following remark brought forth a vigorous 
and vehement defense of the cowboy : 

The public believes that the native cowboy, reared on the frontier, 
is not possessed with the proper respect for the value of property or 
respect for the law, much less with those fine instincts which are alive 
to the keen sufferings of the brute world. 40 

Mr. Exall of Texas jumped to the defense of the cowboy 
in his reply : 



38. Missouri Republican, November 18, 1884. 

The mystery of the cowboy band was solved when S. S. Prunty, the editor of the 
Kansas Cowboy of Dodge City, stated that Western Kansas would take the responsibility 
for the cowboy band. He said it was sent as a token of appreciation of St. Louis 
hospitality and added that ". . . the attire of the members of the band is the regula- 
tion dress of the plains cowboy. The spurs, pistol and leather leggings are seen every 
day on the cowboy of the plains. The members, while mostly cowboys in jest, are 
gentlemen and some represent thousands of head of bovine." Missouri Republican, 
November 20, 1884. 

39. During the preparations being made for the Convention of 1884, a St. Louis 
tanner suggested calling a convention of the "Cattlemen's Cousins," the hide dealers, 
tanners and leather merchants in order that some measures might be taken to lessen 
the evils of branding. Sixty-five delegates arrived from New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, 
Cincinnati, Louisville and other cities. They presented their case declaring that excessive 
branding caused an annual loss of several million dollars ; in support of their state- 
ment they produced a two pound brand scab. Missouri Republican, October 22, 1884 ; 
November 16, 1884 ; November 19, 1884 ; November 28, 1885. 

40. Ibid., November 28, 1885. 



106 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

... he wanted to remind the gentleman who read or wrote the paper 
that he was mistaken as to the lawlessness of the cowboy of the plains. 
There are no other class of men from the Atlantic to the Pacific who 
have more responsibility on their shoulders than the cowboys. Men 
of irresponsible character would not be entrusted with such interests. 
Men who owned large interests would not entrust them to men of law- 
lessness ... he wanted to say that the men of the plains were the 
equals and the peers of the men of the cities. 41 

Judge Wallace of Colorado protested : 

. . . when I hear a motion to adopt as part of the proceedings of this 
convention that which libels the cowboy of the West, I must be allowed 
respectively to enter my protest. It amounts to charging the cowboy 
with retrograding to a state of savagery. ... I have lived in the state 
of Colorado for twelve years . . . and my life has been spent largely 
in dealings with these men, the cowboys . . . with reference to their 
character, to the large interests at stake of the men who own the herd, 
and the amount of money involved, do you suppose that it would be 
entrusted to murderers, cut- throats, and thieves? No, gentlemen, there 
are violators of the law in the West as in the East, but I opine that 
the percentage of business is quite equal to that of the East. 42 

In order to keep the situation under control, Mr. King 
of Utah said that curt answers were uncalled for and ex- 
pressed his opinion in the following statement : 

... I have been a cowboy for many years until three years ago but 
I cannot see in that report anything that particularly reflects upon 
my honor, upon the honor of any cowboy here, or any gentlemen from 
the West or those attending. You know too well gentlemen, that in 
our most noble pursuit men sometimes go to extremes. We have had 
what I consider a friendly voice asking that we do not go to extremes. 
That is nothing that militates against the honor or integrity of the 
cowboy. . . . Most of us are cowboys and I think the Eastern boys 
appreciate us; I know that they do not look upon us as murderers, 
ruffians, or cut-throats . . . but as honorable gentlemen, the free men 
of the great plains which God has given to America. 43 

As early as 1858, some unknown newspaper writer at- 
tempted to characterize the Westerner. "Traits of Western 
People" is found in the Daily Missouri Democrat. The writer 
says: 



41. Ibid., November 28, 1885. 

42. Missouri Republican, November 28, 1885. 

43. Ibid.. November 28. 1885. 



THE COWBOY 107 

There is a certain universality in the type of the Western man, and 
a certain freedom and electicism in his social life, which enable them 
to reflect a partial likeness of the better traits and qualities, peculiar 
to either section of the country, however much these sections may 
differ in their standard of morals and manners. The extreme South- 
erner, the Virginian, the Yankee, recognize each his own image in the 
many-sided man of the West. They feel they have certain affinities for 
him, though they have none for each other ; and he in return spontane- 
ously fraternizes with them because he possesses a genial, catholic, 
though, perhaps, less cultured nature. Climate, institutions and other 
causes have moulded them into uniformity, and have given them 
rigidity and angularity of character, but the plastic nature of the 
Western people which the inflowing of new blood in a thousand rills 
promises to preserve, forbids any irreconcilable antagonism, and 
results in boundless variety and unity. The elements which enter into 
the composition of character in this region are countless, and have not 
yet formed into an insoluble concrete. The people are not recast by 
artificial means. The reign of formulas was not yet begun, but nature 
is left to her own sweet will. Greater physical activity, greater di- 
versity of manners, and aspirations, and greater energy and boldness 
of character are the results. 44 

Although no specific division of time or years can be 
made, one may conclude from the foregoing statements that 
there was an early period in which the cowboy appeared to 
be a curiosity to the contemporaries of his time. They write 
about his appearance in towns as the cattle are driven to the 
rail heads, the difficulties in getting the cattle across bridges, 
streams, through towns and so forth. They begin to take 
notice of his riding ability, skill in horsemanship and the 
dangers ever present in his occupation. Occasionally, a cow- 
boy kept records of his trials on the drives. During this time, 
farmers in the more settled portions of the country took 
exception to the Texas cattle, and a just fear of the "fever" 
was evident. Because the cowboys persisted in driving their 
cattle through, the farmers and settlers became antagonistic. 
The resultant clashes are probably the first steps in the 
creation of the cowboy-badman. 

A second period appears in the writings of the time. 
Every phase of the cowboy's life is related ; particular stress 
is given to his manners, dress, and his weaknesses of flesh 



44. Daily Missouri Democrat, (St. Louis, Missouri) Wednesday, September 8, 

1858. 



108 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

his general immorality. There is the beginning of the cow- 
town with its dens of iniquity. There seems to be a puritani- 
cal streak in the writings of the contemporaries of this 
second period and the tone is high-flowing and moralistic. 
The crusading spirit appears in the towns which were de- 
pendent upon the cattle industry and the cowboy for their 
birth and very existence. As the rail heads move westward, 
attempts are made to salvage the towns from the 'ruffian' 
of the plains. 

The third period appears just as the range cattle industry 
collapses before the ranch cattle industry. The writers of 
this time take an entirely new attitude. In some cases they 
are inclined to look upon the cowboy as crude, rough, but 
essentially good a sort of naughty-boy attitude to be over- 
looked. In other cases it seems that they realized that many 
of the wealthy cattlemen who had made a big business of 
the cattle industry had started as cowboys. As more money 
was invested in the industry, it seemed to grow in respecta- 
bility, and the cowboy was caught up in this veneer. He 
gained in stature and esteem, he became a respectable 
citizen. 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS: A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS* 

Edited by FRANK D. REEVE 

(Continued) 

I HAVE been asked many times if I was scared at the first 
sight of Indians, and this was my first experience. When 
I got to the top of the hill it took me several minutes to 
discover the village, so much were the wickiyups the color 
of the rocks and bushes. I did not see an Indian for some 
time, either, and when I did he was so far away I knew he 
could not hit anything at that distance, so I was cool enough 
and can honestly say I was not afraid. When we got to the 
creek and Stephenson explained his plan, I will frankly 
acknowledge I was mightily scared, and only hoped I did 
not show it. Pride came to the rescue at once : the knowledge 
that our men were looking to us for directions, the pride of 
the commissioned officer, and, above all, the pride that makes 
a man ashamed to show fear before his fellow-man. 

I once heard an experienced soldier say, one whose record 
during the war was only equalled by the one he made as an 
Indian fighter, that "a man who says he is not afraid of 
Indians either don't know anything about it or he is a liar," 
and from all I have heard others say, I imagine my experi- 
ence was similar to theirs. I always thought that if Stephen- 
son had known how horribly scared I was he would hardly 
have spoken to me afterward so kindly as he did, so I guess 
I succeeded in hiding it fairly well. 



* In preparing the material for the January, 1950, issue of the New Mexico His- 
torical Review, uncorrected galley proofs were returned to the printer, resulting in 
certain errors in the Memoirs of Captain Phelps. The following should be read in con- 
junction with the Introduction : 

Captain Phelps was again recalled to service when the United States participated 
in World War I. He was stationed at Detroit, Michigan, as recruiting officer, and then 
transferred for duty at the Port of Embarkation, Hoboken, New Jersey. Once again 
the veteran soldier retired to the more peaceful pursuits of civilian life, but with the 
rank of Lieutenant Colonel. A few years later, in 1923, he passed away in Urbana, Ohio. 

Since the Memoirs were not recorded from day to day, but were written in later 
life, it was thought permissible to improve the composition, although no change has 
been made in meaning. 

* * * 

The reader is asked to forgive certain typographical errors, especially on page 38, 
where Urbana, Illinois, should read Urbana, Ohio. Ed. 

109 



110 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Ten men were to stay with horses and pack mules while 
the rest of us, thirty-seven in all, were to go up that hill 
and come down again, if we could. That's what scared me. 
The rocks at the top were thick with howling Indians who 
yelled Apache and Mexican epithets at us. Nearly all the 
Mescalero Apaches understood, and many of them spoke, the 
Mexican language, and they defiantly dared us to come on, 
accompanied with gestures, grotesque, but not at all decent. 

And now occurred a little scene that shows the man who 
refuses to fight fisticuffs is not always a coward. Among the 
men was one such named Zubrod. Shambling in his gait, 
with a little weazened face, weak, colorless eyes, dirty in 
person and in clothes as he dared to be, he was a butt for 
every joke of his comrades, and had been bullied and whipped 
by nearly every man in the troop; there was probably not 
a man there who did not consider him a coward, and in some 
way I don't know how I had gotten the same opinion. 
When Stephenson directed me to pick out ten men to remain 
with the animals, the first one I selected was Zubrod, and 
when the others were selected Stephenson directed Foster to 
take charge of them, a detail that surprised me; but I did 
not know much then, and it did not occur to me that the 
care of our animals and rations was no unimportant matter. 
But Zubrod broke out: "Lieutenant, can't I go? Every man 
in the troop says I am a coward! Let me go. I'll show 
'em !" And he broke down, alternately crying and swearing. 
Stephenson gave him a keen glance, and reading him better 
than I, made a motion of assent, and Zubrod took his place 
with the party. 

Stephenson told me to take ten men and try to work around 
to our right and, if possible, flank their position, for that 
stone wall, as we may call it, looked ugly, and the hill was 
so steep that the men would have to use both hands to cling 
to rocks and bushes, and could do no firing. When I had 
discovered a practicable way and had gone up as far as I 
could without being resisted, I was to fire a pistol shot and 
then make a rush, with as much noise and yelling as possible, 
so as to make the Indians think it was another troop coming 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 111 

in on them, while he, with twenty-seven others, would go 
straight up, or try to. 

All this time we were in plain sight and not more than 
five hundred yards from the Indians' position. Why they 
did not fire on us was a mystery; probably they had little 
ammunition and wanted to save it for close quarters. In that 
day the Apaches had few, if any, breech-loading guns, little 
ammunition for the muzzle-loaders they did have, and were 
poor shots. I went to our right, up stream, about three hun- 
dred yards, and finding a kind of spur or nose that looked as 
though it would be easy climbing, we worked up to within 
five or six hundred yards of the Indian position, fired a shot, 
and rushed on ; but we had not gone over half the distance 
when we came to an immense deep canon that we could 
neither cross nor get around and, worse still could not see the 
place where our enemies were. But we kept up a devil of a 
din, and if those Indians did not think the devil had broken 
loose over there on their left, it was not our fault. All the 
same we kept a sharp watch, hoping we would catch sight 
of something, and we were not disappointed. 

Looking off to our left we saw Stephenson and his men 
leisurely climbing the hill, the carbines slung over their 
backs by the sling belts, and Stephenson himself in the lead, 
with his Winchester carried and used as a cane. Not a shot 
was fired at them ; when half way up they came to a ledge of 
rock and halted to get their breath for a minute. The day 
was fearfully hot ; they had been on the go since three A. M. ; 
the hill was covered with small stones and loose shale, which 
slid back under the foot, and it was decidedly hard "getting 
up stairs." 

For a moment they rested, then Stephenson's calm delib- 
erate voice quietly said, "Come on," and as they started, from 
above came the ring of rifles, but too high. I saw Corporal 
Cooney, a magnificent-looking blue-eyed man, stagger ; then 
he laughed grimly as a glance showed the bullet had only 
torn its way through his belt and shirt, just touching his 
side. Poor devil! five years later they shot better and he 
fell, fighting like a demon, alone and unaided, in a lonely 



112 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

canon, the very next day after he had sold his mining claim 
for a big sum and was going home to his sweetheart who 
had waited all these years. 35 

Then Stephenson's voice rang out clear and strong, "Now, 
men !" and with one whoop up they went, Stephenson's long, 
lank form well ahead, swinging his Winchester over his 
head by the muzzle, only speaking once more and then to 
yell at Zubrod, Zubrod the coward who would not fight, but 
who was bounding ahead, his face as white as the sheeted 
dead, his eyes glowing like coals, ten yards ahead of every- 
body. "Zubrod! Zubrod! damn it, man, don't get ahead of 
me ! Take it easy !" 

Close behind Zubrod was Bullard, swinging something 
over his head and yelling like a maniac. I could not then 
imagine what he was swinging, but subsequently found it 
was a long-handled frying-pan he had picked up on the hill 
where a squaw had dropped it in her flight. He had lost his 
own and did not propose to risk losing his prize by leaving 
it behind. 

Now they were almost to the crest, and then came another 
scattered volley that also went high ; but the shooters were 
rattled and, beside that, they were shooting down hill, and 
a man almost invariably overshoots under such circum- 
stances. 

By this time the Indians concluded that the white man 
was going to accept his invitation to "come up the hill," 
in fact, had already accepted it with a demoralizing unan- 
imity, and instantly every head disappeared. As the men 
swarmed over the hill, Stephenson, Bullard, and Zubrod well 
in advance, there was no foe to meet them, but some hun- 



35. "An incident which created intense excitement throughout the western part 
of New Mexico in the spring of 1880 was the murder of James C. Cooney and a 
number of other miners by a band of Apaches under Victorio. Cooney had been 
Quartermaster Sergeant in the 8th U. S. cavalry, and while performing scouting duties 
in the Mogollon mountains in western Socorro county discovered silver. After his dis- 
charge from the army he organized the Cooney mining district and began development 
of extensive properties in Socorro county. His brother, Captain Michael Cooney, hewed 
from the solid rock, near the scene of the murder, a sepulcher for the body. The 
door is sealed with cement and ores from the mine, and in these ores has been wrought 
the design of a cross. His friends among the miners also hewed a cross of porphyry 
which was placed upon the summit of the rock tomb." R. E. Twitchell, The Leading 
Facts of New Mexican History, II, 439 note (Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1912). 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 113 

dreds of yards away were three or four Apaches just disap- 
pearing over a ridge, and from there they fled like deer in 
the labyrinth of canons on that side. Through the wickiups, 
across the flat, to and beyond the canons for a mile the men 
pantingly pursued, hoping for one fair shot, but they might 
as well have pursued shadows. These were mountain Indians 
and could run up or down hill with apparently the same ease. 

But now my little party is to have a chance. Down a 
side ravine, gliding over the ground like ghosts, came three 
Indians into the main canon some four or five hundred yards 
away, across and up the steep side of another hill, we firing 
at them, but though we kicked up the gravel all around them, 
we did not hit anything else. 

In those days the cavalry were armed with the old 
Sharp's carbine with an open back sight, and a thick, stubby, 
front sight ; and with a trigger supposed to be seven pounds 
pull, but near fourteen. Target practice was unknown prac- 
tically, the allowance of ammunition being three shots per 
man per year, and the longest range three hundred yards. 
Think of sending out men to fight Indians who had had no 
target drill at all and, to quote Chambers McKibben 36 who, 
with that moustache, the pride of the 15th Infantry, elevated 
in the air, once declared, "could not hit a flock of haystacks 
at ten yards rise." 

If we had had a chance to learn to shoot we might have 
killed more Indians, but as it was the almost universal rule 
was to "rush in to close quarters, then shoot." Fortunately 
the Indians were not as good shots as we were, poor as that 
was, so we nearly always got the best of them. 

Meantime these three Indians were making remarkable 
time up the steep side of the mountain and two of them dis- 
appeared over the crest. One, however, could not resist the 
opportunity of showing his contempt for the white man and 
the white man's shooting and, turning at the very edge of 
the great canon, he shouted the most opprobrious epithets 
in Mexican, accompanying them with gestures not at all 

36. Chambers McKibbin was born in Pennsylvania. He volunteered as a private 
in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, Sep- 
tember 22, 1862 ; Captain, July 28, 1866 ; and retired with the rank of Brigadier General, 
October 3, 1902. He is listed in Appletona' Encyclopedia. 



114 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

polite, but easy to comprehend. Corporal McNelly was stand- 
ing near me, a pretty fair shot; kneeling down, he took 
deliberate aim at this rampageous Apache and fired. I was 
watching Mr. Indian through my glasses and saw him sud- 
denly "hump" himself together, bound in the air like a ball, 
and in the next instant shoot over the edge of the canon, 
end over end, going down with a crash on the rocks hundreds 
of feet below; one good Indian, anyhow. We found it im- 
possible to get down to him, the walls of the canon being 
two or three hundred feet high, and as straight up and 
down, almost, as the sides of a house. So we left him to the 
buzzards and the coyotes. By this time the men were re- 
turning from the fruitless pursuit, and the work of destruc- 
tion began. 

The wickiups were built of sotol 37 stocks, the lance-like 
stock of a species of cactus, and brush covered with pieces 
of canvas, hides and dirty, tattered blankets. Dozens of 
bridles, lariats, saddles, &c., and the numerous tracks of 
ponies and mules, showed that they had animals with them, 
but probably they were away with part of the band on a 
foray into Mexico at this time. One mule with a club foot 
was captured, instantly named "Apache," and adopted into 
the troop where he lived and flourished, being used as a 
hunting party pack animal until a snooping Inspector saw 
him and, lacking sense enough to know that there are times 
when an Inspector ought to be blind, ordered him to be 
turned into that capacious and rapacious receptable into 
which so much goes and from which nothing ever comes out 
the Quartermaster's Department. The men readily offered 
to buy him at any price if he could be sold, for they delighted 
to taunt the other troop at the post when they would see 
them going over to our Quartermaster's to borrow a pack 
mule to go hunting: "Hello T troop, why don't you get a 
mule of your own?" 

Hanging to the limb of an oak tree was another mule, 

87. Sotol was an important food for Apaches. The crowns of the plant were 
roasted in pits, dried, crushed into flour and baked in small cakes. Willis H. Bell and 
Edward F. Castetter, Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest, VII. 67f 
(Biological Series, University of New Mexico, 1941. V, no. 5). Castetter and Opler, 
op. eft. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 115 

freshly skinned and dressed, young, fat and tender, for 
Stephenson and I had a steak off him that night for supper. 
Our bacon was gone. It resembled coarse beef, rather red, 
but was sweet and tender and tasted mighty good. 

Large tin dish pans, tin cups, canteens and so on were 
scattered everywhere, and finally a copy of a printed order 
from the War Department something about transporta- 
tion was found stuck up in one of the huts. These things 
showed clearly enough that these Indians were Reservation 
pets. An uncut bolt of calico, with Mexican trade marks on 
the card, showed that they had recently been trading with 
Mexicans or, what was more likely, had recently raided a 
Mexican house or train. Besides these articles there were 
thousands of pounds of prepared mescal, all of which, to- 
gether with saddles and everything, was soon in flames, and 
the work of destruction was thorough and complete. Going 
down to and around the base of the hill, and along the little 
stream, we soon found where the squaws had been making 
tiswin. 33 Some forty odd jars of earthenware, or ollas, were 
standing there filled with the unf ermented liquor, and being 
cool, palatable and, at that stage, not intoxicating, we par- 
took of it freely, then all the jars were broken. Had the stuff 
been fermented we would all have had the jimjams sure, 
but as it was, no harm was done. 

When we finally got back to where our horses were we 
found Foster had captured another mule. While we were 
ascending the hill his quick ear caught a sound of something 
coming up the canon; slipping quietly behind a big rock, 
some one hundred yards below the horses, he looked carefully 
around and saw two Indians mounted, one behind the other, 
on a mule, coming slowly up the trail and unconscious of 
danger. Why they did not hear the yells of their friends 
above I do not know ; perhaps the winding of the canon cut 

38. "But the Apaches rivaled their pale-face brothers in the production of 
'home-brew.' Their system was to bury grain on the sunny bank of a stream where 
the warmth and moisture caused the cereal to germinate. Then they stewed it 
sprouts and all. The stew was then set aside and allowed to ferment. The Apaches 
called this brew "tuh-le-pah," but to the pale-face it was known as 'tiz-win.' It had 
a powerful 'kick' particularly if the revelers fasted a day or two before imbibing." 
John P. Clum, "Es-kim-in-zin," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, III, 419 (October, 
1928). 



116 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

off the sound. Cocking his carbine and taking a dead rest 
on the rock, he took deliberate aim at the foremost Indian 
and pulled the trigger. He was our best shot, the distance 
not over seventy-five yards, and he told me afterwards he 
was chuckling over his "easy pot shot," as he called it, but 
the cartridge missed fire. Just then one of the Indians caught 
sight of him, gave a whoop, and both of them rolled off and 
dashed into a side ravine and were out of sight in a second, 
leaving Foster dancing with rage and the proud captor of 
a sore-backed mule. 

We camped that night on the little stream, and all night 
long the Indians kept up their yells from the surrounding 
cliffs ; but they did not venture near camp. At daybreak they 
had disappeared, and we subsequently learned that they went 
straight back to the Reservation to get rations and get ready 
for another raid. 

Two days after we rode into old Camp Bowie, 39 Arizona, 
situated at the eastern end of Apache Pass, a pass of which 
nearly every rod has been the scene of a tragedy, for this 
was a famous place for ambuscades. In the little cemetery 
there at the time I counted twenty odd graves, and all but 
two bore on the little head-boards, "killed by Indians." 

It was raining in torrents when we rode into the Post, 
and the first thing I got was an invitation to dine with the 
commanding officer, a veteran Captain of the 5th Cavalry, 



39. "Fort Bowie was located in Apache Pass, Chiricahua Mountains, on the road 
from Tucson to Mesilla. . . . The establishment of a military post at this site dates 
from July 28, 1862, when the 'California Column' under Brigadier General James H. 
Carleton, on its way to Santa Fe, passed that way, and detached a company to guard 
the spring at that point. 

"Major T. A. Coult, Fifth California Volunteers, was assigned to command of 
the post on July 27, 1862. Temporary huts were erected, and the post was called Fort 
Bowie in honor of George F. Bowie, colonel of that regiment, then commanding the 
District of Southern California. 

"On May 3, 1866, the Volunteer garrisons were relieved by Company E, Four- 
teenth U. S. Infantry, and from that date occupation of the post was continuous to 
1894, when troops were withdrawn and the post abandoned. In 1894 the post was 
turned over to the Secretary of the Interior." Post, Camps, and Stations, File, cited 
in Martin F. Schmitt, ed., General George Crook: His Autobiography, pp. 163 (Univer- 
sity of Oklahoma Press, 1946). 

The Fort was located in Latitude 32 10' and Longitude 109 22'. The reservation 
was declared by Executive Order March 30, 1870, and enlarged to 23,040 acres, Novem- 
ber 27, 1877. See also William A. Bell, New Tracks in North America, p. 44 (London, 
1869). 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 117 

now a Lieutenant Colonel, 40 whose good wife was then, and 
is today, famous in the army for her generous hospitality 
and her good dinners. 

I wanted that dinner, wanted it bad. I had been living for 
three days on mule meat, but how could I go? The only 
pair of trousers I had were minus a seat and, as I was built 
somewhat on the bean pole order, it was a problem where to 
beg, borrow or steal a pair of unmentionables. Finally at 
the Sutler's store, in exchange for seven dollars, I got a 
pair I could wear; the color was cherry-red, but I wanted 
that dinner. I heard they were going to have POTATOES, 
canned, to be sure, but still POTATOES, and I had not seen 
one for two years. At that time very few vegetables were 
raised at all, and we had been unable to raise potatoes at 
Bayard, so I was hungry for them, and go I did. If my 
hostess did notice the warm color of my trousers, she re- 
pressed her amusement and gave me that cordial welcome 
that characterizes army hospitality. They say no lady ever 
feels more highly complimented than when a man eats a 
hearty meal at her table; when "Pard" and I got through 
Mrs. S. S. Sumner must have been pleased, for we did our 
duty. 

At the same table sat the genial Post Adjutant, 41 the 
First Sergeant of A Company at the Point when I was a 
First Classman, now the grave and dignified chief in charge 
of the publication of the Records of the Rebellion. Only a 
few weeks ago I saw him for the first time since that visit to 
Bowie, nearly twenty-five years ago, and I had scarcely 
entered his office in Washington when he asked, "Say, old 
man, what has become of your sanguinary breeches?" 

40. Edwin Vose Sumner was born in Pennsylvania. He served in the Union Army 
during the Civil War, beginning as 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Cavalry, August 5, 1861. He 
attained the rank of Brigadier General, March 23, 1899. 

His father was the distinguished soldier, Edwin Vose Sumner, Sr., whose career 
is discussed in the DAB and in Appletons' Cyclopedia. 

41. George Breckenridge Davis was born in Massachusetts. He served in the 
Civil War as sergeant, 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, from September 10, 1863, until June 
16, 1865. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, June 17, 1865, and was mustered out, 
June 26th. Graduating from the United States Military Academy, he was commissioned 
2nd Lieutenant, 5th Cavalry, June 12, 1871, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General, 
Judge Advocate General, May 24, 1901. His name appears on the Records of Rebellion 
as editor, serving from 1889 to 1895. See DAB. 



118 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

We remained at Camp Bowie four or five days to let the 
horses and the men rest, have the horses reshod, and to 
arrange for the balance of our scout. The commanding offi- 
cer of the Post appeared to be a good deal annoyed someway 
that we had found Indians within twenty miles of his Post. 
Years afterwards he told me that the very day before we 
came into Camp Bowie he had reported to the Department 
commander that there were no Indians within one hundred 
miles of his Post, and here we found a gang of them within 
twenty miles. He was in no way responsible, of course, as his 
scouts had simply failed to find them. 

We moved out early on the fifth day. Marching into the 
San Simon valley, we turned short to the right and moved 
south along the eastern edge of Chirrechua [Chiricahua] 42 
mountains. About twenty miles south we went into camp 
where a beautiful mountain stream came roaring down the 
rocks of Horseshoe canon. 43 This canon we knew had fre- 
quently been a lurking place for Apaches, and some years be- 
fore a desperate fight between Apaches and Lafferty's 44 troop 
of our regiment had taken place in it. The canon was about 
three miles long and gradually narrowed until it was not 
more than one hundred yards in width, with rocks standing 
straight for hundreds of feet on each side. While searching 
the canon, Lafferty had been attacked from both sides and 
only after a desperate fight, in which he lost several men 
killed and wounded and had both his jaws shattered by an 
Indian bullet, did he succeed in getting his men out. 

Bullard and I determined to explore this canon in hopes 
of getting a deer. When we drew rations at Camp Bowie, we 

42. The Chiricahua mountains are in the southeastern corner of Arizona, ranging 
north and south. The famous Apache pass is located in their northern reaches, guarded 
at one time by Fort Bowie. 

48. Horseshoe Canyon is on the east side of the Chiricahua mountains. W. H. 
Carter, The Life of Lieutenant General Chaff ee, p. 79 (The University of Chicago 
Press, 1917). 

44. This fight occurred October 20, 1869, when a detachment of 60 men from 
Fort Bowie under command of Colonel Barnard attacked the Apaches. Lieutenant 
Lafferty was wounded. The Indians defeated the soldiers. For the details see T. E. 
Farish, History of Arizona, VIII, 29f (State of Arizona, 1915). 

John Lafferty was born in New York. He enlisted as 1st Lieutenant in the 1st 
Battalion, California Cavalry, July 21, 1864, and was mustered out, March 15, 1866. 
He re-enlisted the same year in the 8th Cavalry with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and 
retired, June 28, 1878, with the rank of Captain. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 119 

found that there was no bacon there and we had to take in 
its place salt pork ; in the intense heat of August this pork 
spoiled on our hands the first day, so we determined, if 
possible, to get fresh meat. We proceeded cautiously up the 
canon for about two miles, picking our way slowly through 
the dense underbrush, seeing several deer, but not firing for 
fear there might be Indians in the pass. Finally we came to 
an open space several acres in extent at the very end of the 
pass and, as we appeared through the brush, there were the 
wickiups or huts of a large band of Indians within twenty 
yards of us. Dropping quickly to the ground we watched 
them for some time and finally came to the conclusion that 
they were abandoned, and it was a lucky thing for us that 
there were no Indians there, or we would never have gotten 
out alive. Returning toward camp we killed a deer and got 
back just at dark. 

The next day we were marching leisurely down the west- 
ern edge of the plain when we suddenly found in a little path, 
running at right angles to our course, two or three handf uls 
of Mexican beads and one or two pieces of porcupine or quill 
work, which we knew immediately meant that an Indian had 
passed that way and had dropped them. A close examination 
of the ground showed the tracks of one Indian ; by the dis- 
tance between foot steps we found that he had started to run 
at full speed, and we had no doubt that he had caught sight 
of us. The trail led up a broad valley ; we followed it rapidly 
till we came to a high hill jutting two-thirds of the way 
across the pass. Here we halted while Foster and Bullard and 
two of the men crept to the top of the hill. They had scarcely 
peeped over when one of the men came sliding down and said 
that half a mile above, in the flat open valley, was an Indian 
camp and, from the confusion in the camp, they thought they 
were getting ready to escape. Bullard sent word that the flat 
was level and smooth and that a mounted charge was 
practicable. 

Stephenson immediately directed me to take twenty men 
and charge at full speed, he following close behind with the 
balance, sending three or four men with the pack animals 
back into the open plain. With the twenty men I took the 



Library 



120 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

trot, then the gallop and, as we turned the end of the hill, 
I motioned to the men to spread out to the right and left. 
We went up the valley at full speed for about fifty yards 
when the village came in sight, but almost immediately we 
found ourselves in a mass of broken rock and low brush 
through which a horse could not possibly move faster than 
a walk. I immediately dismounted the men, turned the 
horses loose and started on a run for the village. Almost 
at the same moment the three men at the top of the hill 
opened a rapid fire, yelled and motioned to us to move more 
to the right, which we did, and were soon in the village ; but, 
of course, the Indians had escaped into the brush beyond, 
and were rapidly moving up the hill. One Indian could 
plainly be seen scrambling up a bare space of rock about 
two hundred yards distant and Sergeant Foster dropped him 
with a quick snap shot. We all saw him roll down, but im- 
mediately two other Indians seized him and dragged him out 
of sight. We hurried forward as rapidly as possible, but 
found only blotches of blood and then a mule track showing 
that they had some animals there, so they escaped with their 
wounded companion. 

Six months afterwards the Post Surgeon at Fort Tul- 
erosa, 45 which was at the Indian reservation, told me that the 
Indians belonged to that reservation and that they brought 
this wounded man there. He was well known as "Big Foot/' 
a notorious scoundrel who had committed many murders. The 
bullet had broken his leg just above the knee. As the sur- 
geon at that time did not know that he had been away from 
the reservation, he took him into the post hospital to treat 
him, but knowing that he was a desperate and blood-thirsty 
Indian, he took advantage of the opportunity and put a stop 
to his raiding by amputating his right leg close up to the hip ; 
he frankly acknowledged that it was entirely unnecessary, 



45. Fort Tularosa was established in April, 1872, at the site of a new reservation 
for Apache Indians who had been located for a time at Canada Alamosa which came 
to be considered unsuitable. The Indians, however, did not like the new location and 
were returned to Canada Alamosa in the summer of 1874. The Tularosa reservation 
was located alone the Rio Tularosa and tributaries in west-central New Mexico. For 
details see the NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XIII, 296ff (July, 1938). 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 121 

but as he explained it, he made a good Indian of him 

anyhow. 

In the camp, we found several Indian ponies and a very 
large amount of Mescal and other property, all of which we 
destroyed. We continued our march to the south until we 
had crossed the line into old Mexico. 

One night, about ten days after leaving Camp Bowie, we 
camped in an open flat. There was a dry arroyo, or water 
course, running east and west perhaps ten feet deep and 
twenty feet wide, and in this was a small pool of water. 
Running at right angles to it was a smaller dry water course. 
We camped at the junction of these two, the men building 
their fire on the bank close down to where the smaller 
arroyo entered the larger. Just across this arroyo was quite 
a large thorn bush. Stephenson and I put our blankets under 
this bush and were perhaps thirty feet from the men's camp 
fire. Wood was exceedingly scarce, but by everybody turning 
out, except the herd guard, and roaming over the prairie, 
we succeeded in gathering a small quantity of dry sage 
brush, enough to boil our coffee. 

The men had gathered around the camp fire just after 
dark to get their coffee. Stephenson and I were seated on 
our blankets under the brush. We had already filled our cups 
with coffee, for on this scout, as on nearly all scouts, we 
messed with the men, eating the same ration that they ate. 
Sentries had been put around the camp, perhaps fifty yards 
out, with orders to watch the skyline of the hills around us ; 
suddenly there flashed a rifle shot and a bullet passed through 
the bush under which we were seated, cutting off a small 
branch about six inches above my head, it dropping into my 
lap. As quickly as a flash the cook upset the can of coffee 
into the fire and we were in darkness instantly. Stephenson 
and I both rolled into a small ravine and, climbing up the 
bank, found the men all lying flat on their faces in a circle 
with their carbines pointed in every direction, anxiously 
peering into the darkness in search of an enemy. 

Dead silence reigned for several moments and then Steph- 
enson called out, "Who fired that shot," and a piping voice 



122 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

replied, "I did, sir." "Who are you," Stephenson asked, 
and the answer came, "Arenbeck, sir." "What did you shoot 
at?" "I did not shoot at nothing," he replied. "I wanted to 
see, sir, if my carbine was loaded, sir, so I snapped it, sir, 
and it was loaded, sir," and a roar of laughter broke out 
from the men. The call was a pretty close one, but we did 
not care so much for that as for the fact that the coffee had 
been upset on the fire. There was no more wood and it was 
too dark to gather any more, so the men had to eat their 
hard tack and drink muddy water instead of hot coffee. 
They did curse Arenbeck heartily all night, I presume, and 
the next day Stephenson ordered him to walk and lead his 
horse all day as a punishment for his gross carelessness, 
yet in less than a week this fool saved all our lives. 

We then swung to the east, through a very rough broken 
country, and finally came out onto what was known as 
Rattlesnake plain. This was a dreary desert, probably one 
hundred miles long and forty or fifty miles wide, to the 
west of the Florita 46 mountains and, so far as known, there 
was not a drop of water on it. It was loose gravel and sand, 
thinly covered with scrub sage brush ; the enormous amount 
of rattlesnakes we saw that day explained its name. I do 
not think I saw less than fifty in the twenty miles we made 
that day, and what in the world they lived on has been a 
mystery to me to this day. Rattlesnakes live very largely 
on frogs, toads, rabbits, and other small animals, but not a 
sign of life did we see that day except the snakes. 

By four o'clock we were halfway across, hoping to reach 
Carselia springs 47 by daylight the next morning. The plain 
was not perfectly level, and, going over a swell, we were 
astonished to see a spot of vivid green just in front of us in 
the bottom of a large circular bowl-like depression. Going 
down to it, we found that it was a patch of green rushes per- 
haps three or four feet high. Stephenson and I immediately 
dismounted, walked out into the rushes, and soon discovered 



46. Correctly spelled Florida. They extend southward from the present day town 
of Deming, southwestern New Mexico. 

47. Carselia springs is marked as Carazillo spring on a Department of War map 
of 1867. The latter name is probably a corruption of Carrizalillo, or "little reed grass." 
The spring was near the Mexican border on the road to Janos. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 123 

that there was no water visible, but that the ground under 
our feet was bulb-like and shaky, and we had to proceed very 
carefully. We called two of the men and directed them, with 
their long hunting knives, which every man carried, to cut 
a hole in this turf to see if there was any water below it. 
Running his knife down through it, one of the men made a 
circular cut about two feet in diameter and, catching hold of 
the rushes, they lifted out a piece; peering down, we saw 
that the bulb was about one foot thick, and consisted of a 
tangled mass of the roots of the rushes. Upon examination 
of the ground the next morning, we came to the conclusion 
that this was the last part of what had been at one time a 
small lake. The water had evidently disappeared from this 
spot the last of all, and no doubt there were underground 
springs there. The rushes had grown up thick and strong 
and had then broken down, gradually covering the surface 
of the spring. The green rushes growing up year after year, 
perhaps for fifty years, had gradually formed a crust or 
bulb-like surface that we found. We called this Devin spring 
after the commanding officer of our Post and it was duly en- 
tered on the military maps of that part of New Mexico, so 
that scouting parties afterward had no trouble in finding it. 
Below this was an open space perhaps six inches, and 
below that black liquid mud. Taking a tin cup, one of the 
men laid flat on his face, scooped a hole in the mud perhaps 
a foot deep, and almost immediately water commenced to 
trickle into the hole ; he was soon able to take out his quart 
cup filled with sweet, palatable water. This was good enough 
for us. We went into camp at once and the men immediately 
cut a number of such holes ; by being careful, they soon filled 
the camp kettles with water from which the men first filled 
their canteens and then commenced to water the horses ; by 
nine o'clock every horse had had four quarts of water. The 
next morning we found the holes completely filled with clear 
sweet water, so we gave the animals all they wanted to drink 
and, filling our canteens, we struck across the sand once more 
for Carselia springs. The day was exceedingly hot and much 
of the ground was covered with alkali which is a kind of 
salty excrescence, white as snow and, crumbling as it did 



124 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

under the horses' feet, rose in a cloud of dust like flour, 
settling on us and our animals and making us very uncom- 
fortable. We did not reach the spring, so called, until eleven 
o'clock that night, and when we arrived, all we could discover 
were small pools of water about six inches below the level 
of the prairie. We drank greedily and the next morning 
found that the water was about one foot deep, full of fungus- 
like plant, small frogs, tadpoles, and lukewarm, but we re- 
mained there all that day, as the grass was thick and 
plentiful. 

About ten yards from the spring was a little rocky knoll 
which, during the afternoon, I climbed to get a look over 
the country. Right on the top I found a circle of stones 
roughly piled perhaps a foot high enclosing the skeleton 
of a white man, and all around him a number of empty brass 
Winchester rifle shells. A hole in the center of the skull 
showed how he had met his fate. He undoubtedly was a 
lonely hunter or prospector caught at the spring by Indians, 
but had time to reach the top of the hill and make this little 
fort, and there had fought his last fight. There was not 
a particle of clothing or anything by which he could be 
identified, so we piled stones over his skeleton and left him. 

We left this spring at three o'clock in the morning, strik- 
ing down east to the foot of the Florita mountains where we 
knew there was a large tank or water hole. This was the 
hardest day's march I ever made in my twenty-one years on 
the frontier. The sky was cloudless and the August sun 
beat down on the alkali flat and, being reflected from the 
snow white surface, redoubled its heat, and the glare was 
terrible. The alkali was several inches deep with a thin crust 
through which the horses' feet broke, and it rose in stifling 
clouds, settling in every crevice of our clothing; by ten 
o'clock we were suffering intensely and every canteen in 
the camp was empty ; the alkali, being slightly saline, made 
the thirst the greater. If I had known as much then about 
scouting as I did afterwards, I would not have touched my 
canteens, but would have kept them full for an emergency, 
but they were empty as soon as anybody's. 

About three o'clock we struck the edge of the Floritas, 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 125 

but on arriving at the tank where we expected to find water 
we found it entirely dry. There was nothing to do but keep 
along the foot of the mountains, examining every ravine 
and canon in hopes of finding water, but as this water hole 
was the only one we had ever heard of in this range of 
mountains our chance seemed hopeless. By four o'clock we 
were in a bad state. I know that my lips were turning black ; 
the lower lip cracked in the center and the blood, oozing out, 
congealed on my beard ; my tongue was thick and I was abso- 
lutely unable to articulate. 

Looking back at the men, I could see that they were in 
equally bad state. In a short while the first sergeant mo- 
tioned to Stephenson and me ; dropping back, we found three 
of the men were delirious. They had dismounted from their 
horses and thrown themselves upon the ground, making 
inarticulate noises and refusing to remount. We motioned 
to the other men and they seized these three men, put them 
in their saddles, tied their feet beneath the horse's body, 
and lashed their wrists to the pommel of the saddle; then 
another man took the bridle reins of each and we proceeded 
on our weary journey. 

Stephenson picked out half a dozen of the men with the 
best horses, directed them to go ahead and, as they came to 
each canon or ravine, one of them to go up in search of 
water, the others going ahead and doing likewise. One by 
one these men returned and, shaking their heads in token 
of failure, took their places in the weary column. We finally 
halted and I remember trying to stick my head under a 
small furze bush where there was a small spot of shade 
perhaps a foot in diameter. I had noticed that all the men 
had returned but one and that was Arenbeck, who was not 
supposed to have very good sense. I had scarcely been there 
more than a minute when I heard a faint sound in the dis- 
tance which might have been a shot, followed a few seconds 
later by a second and then a third, and then a succession 
of shots evidently drawing near; suddenly, over the swell 
in the prairie a mile away, appeared a man on horseback, 
holding his gun over his head and firing into the air as 
fast as he could. The thought immediately struck me that 



126 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

it was Arenbeck and that he had gone mad. We motioned 
to the men; they hurriedly mounted their horses and we 
moved forward at a slow walk. When Arenbeck arrived 
within one hundred yards of us, he put down his carbine 
and, coming up close, swung his canteen over his head ; with 
a yell, he threw it straight to me and, when I caught it, I 
knew by the moisture on the cover and its weight that it 
was full of water. He told us that he had found a small 
supply of water about two miles farther on. 

I shall never forget the temptation that almost over- 
whelmed me to take a swallow of that water but, of course, 
I did not ; turning back, I went to the three crazy men, held 
the canteen to their mouths in turn, and let them drain 
every drop. We moved on as rapidly as possible and finally 
turned up a narrow valley. After going about two hundred 
yards, it narrowed to a width of only twelve or fifteen feet. 
Here an enormous rock extended from side to side sloping 
up at an angle of about forty-five degrees ; Arenbeck pointed 
to this and I saw running over the surface of the rock a 
small stream of water perhaps as wide as my two hands and 
scarcely as thick as a knife blade. We instantly dismounted 
and, seeing a bank of clay close by, we took our cups and 
scooped out a hollow at the foot of the rock; wetting some 
of the clay, we lined it with the wet mud so that the water 
would trickle in and not be wasted in the ground. The horses 
had smelled the water and were plunging to get to it, so we 
moved them back several hundred yards, then motioned to 
the men one at a time to go forward. Each man was allowed 
to dip out his tin cup one-fourth full or half a pint. One of 
the men remarked that it tasted strongly of sulphur and 
almost immediately every man's stomach rejected it, but 
we knew that it would do no great harm. After each man 
had had his half pint, Stephenson and I took the same 
amount and it acted on us in the same manner. We waited 
half an hour and then allowed each man to have another 
drink, this time one pint and this stayed down. We then 
called for the camp kettles and were filling them one by one 
to give the animals water when I looked up and, approaching 
me, I saw one of the men who had been delirious. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 127 

This man's name was Gordon. He was a surly, savage 
brute, and when in the Post a hard drinker. When in the 
field he was one of our best men, and by far the best packer, 
being especially noted for his skill in using the famous "dia- 
mond loop," which is a particular method of securing packs 
with a rope and requires great skill. I was seated right at 
the spring and immediately said to him, "What do you 
want?" In a surly tone, he said, "I want another quart of 
that water and I am going to have it." I saw that the man 
was half crazy, but I said to him quietly, "You can't have 
anymore until the horses have had some. You have had 
the same amount as all the rest and you must wait." Quickly 
reaching down to his boot he drew out his long knife and, 
glaring savagely, he said, "I am going to have water and 
I will cut the bowels out of any man that interferes." I was 
totally unarmed, having removed my pistol and belt and 
laid them to one side some distance away, but the next 
moment a lean, brown hand came over my right shoulder, 
holding in its grasp a cocked revolver, and Stephenson's 
quiet voice said, "Gordon, this is mutiny, if you move a 
step I will kill you." Just at that moment I saw the first 
sergeant, Corcoran, slipping up quietly behind Gordon, his 
moccasined feet making no noise and, at a nod from Steph- 
enson, he struck Gordon a terrific blow just below the ear 
and knocked him senseless; in a moment he had tied his 
hands and feet with a lariat lying near, and we rolled him 
to one side. 

For ten days we had had nothing to eat but hard tack 
and coffee. Our pork had spoiled and had been thrown away, 
and we had not seen a deer since the one Bullard killed in 
Horseshoe canon, now two weeks ago; but with plenty of 
water, we made our coffee and, although there were only 
two hard tack to a man, we were comparatively comfortable. 

The next morning I climbed up over the rock. Finding 
a large flat rock perhaps six feet across and six or eight 
inches thick from under which the water trickled, we cut 
down a small pine sapling and, using this as a pry, lifted 
the rock; out gushed a stream of water several inches in 
diameter which, dashing down over the inclined rock, filled 



128 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

our pool and ran out onto the prairie. We knew then what 
had happened, that it was a large spring which the Indians 
had placed a rock over to conceal. 

From here to the nearest Post, Fort Cummings, 48 in 
Cooke's canon, situated at the foot of Cooke's peak, was fifty 
miles as the crow flies across the desert. We could see Cooke's 
peak looming up clear and distinct and apparently not more 
than twenty miles away, but we knew that it was fully fifty 
and not a drop of water between. We filled our canteens 
and started at four o'clock in the morning, marched as rap- 
idly as we could with our weakened horses, and about four 
o'clock in the afternoon were then within a mile of a large 
spring which was near the Post. Here the horses sniffed 
the air, smelling, of course, the water, and some of them 
actually broke into a jog trot, but before we reached the 
spring five of the horses dropped, never to rise again, dying 
almost instantly. The men stripped off their saddles and, 
throwing them on their shoulders, we went to the spring. 
Fort Cummings, now long abandoned, was a one company 
Post, garrisoned then by Company "E," 15th Infantry, under 
the command of First Lieutenant H. H. Humphreys, 49 who 
was the only officer then at the Post. It was situated in the 
mouth of a dangerous pass and did not cover more than an 
acre, and was entirely surrounded by an adobe wall, ten or 

48. Fort Cummings was located near the mouth of Cooke's canyon in Cooke'e 
range on a. well traveled road westward from the Rio Grande. General Carleton 
established it in 1863 to keep the Apaches under control. The site was at Latitude 
82 27' and Longitude 107 85'. The reservation was declared by Executive Order, 
April 29, 1870, and embraced 2,560 acres. It was abandoned by the War Department 
about 1880. 

"Hundreds of miles before we reached it, I listened with anxiety to the stories 
told me by the frontier men about the dreadful massacres perpetrated by the Indians 
in that dread gorge. It was said that even the soldiers dared not stir a mile from 
the post, and that it was 'just a toss up' whether any traveller got through alive. 
These reports were only the surviving echoes of events which have made Cooke's 
Canon and the Miembres Mountains memorable in the annals of New Mexican massacres. 

"It is said that as many as four hundred emigrants, soldiers and Mexicans, have 
lost their lives in that short four-mile gorge. I have conversed with a settler who has 
counted nine skeletons while passing through the canon, and the graves and heaps of 
stones which now fringe the road will long bear record of those dreadful times." Bell, 
New Tracks . . ., II, 19, 24. 

49. Henry Hollingsworth Humphreys was born in Pennsylvania. He enlisted in 
the Union Army during the Civil War with the rank of 1st Lieutenant (artillery), 
October 3, 1862, and was mustered out with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, November 
10, 1865. He re-enlisted, February 23, 1866, as a Lieutenant in the infantry. He 
attained the rank of Major in 1896 and retired three years later. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 129 

twelve feet high, as a protection against Indians. It was 
put there simply to guard the spring, which was the only 
water for forty-five miles on either side. 

Lieutenant Humphreys, seeing us coming, hurried down 
to the spring and introduced himself to us, as we had never 
met him. He insisted that Stephenson and I go up to his 
quarters for supper, saying that his wife was there with 
him and would be glad to see us. We tried to beg off, for we 
were ragged and dirty ; water had been altogether too scarce 
to use it for washing purposes, and I know that I had not 
washed my face but twice in the last three weeks, once at 
the Horseshoe canon and once in the Florita mountains. He 
would take no denial. So we went up to his quarters at five 
o'clock and met Mrs. Humphreys, who was a nice little 
woman. She had been married only two months and had 
come straight from Philadelphia to this desolate place where 
there was not a woman within forty miles. She told me years 
afterwards that when her husband told her he wanted to 
invite us to dinner, she told him he must be crazy. The 
only thing she had in the house to eat, she said, was fresh 
beef, flour and coifee. She had a cow and plenty of butter 
and milk. Her husband told her that we had been living 
on hard tack and coffee for nearly a month and all she had 
to do was to broil two or three beef steaks, make a bushel 
of biscuits, a barrel of coffee, and we would do the rest. 

We sat down and quickly cleared away one beef steak 
and two or three plates of biscuits. They were not large, 
were very light, and with fresh butter, the strong coffee, 
good cream, and a pitcher of cool milk, I don't think I ever 
enjoyed a meal better. Steak after steak and plate full after 
plate full of biscuits disappeared. In after years she told 
me that she was never better pleased in her life and appreci- 
ated what her husband had told her that "Quantity was what 
would count, not quality." She said, "Do you know how 
many biscuits you ate?" When I laughingly replied that I 
had been too busy to count, she said, "You two ate five beef 
steaks between you, had five cups of coffee apiece ; Mr. Steph- 
enson ate twenty-six biscuits and you ate twenty-eight, and 
I thought you would surely burst." I have no doubt that she 



130 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

was right, but the biscuits were small, about the size of a 
dollar. 

We remained here one day to rest and then returned to 
our post, Fort Bayard, fifty miles distant, taking two days 
for the trip, and thus ended my First Scout. 

One Room and A Kitchen 

Perhaps it is grand, Now, girls, all take warning! 

But I fail to see it; In life's early dawning 

To live at a "post" Don't marry at least 

As an officer's wife. Till you're twenty or more ; 

Unless you have "rank" Then try for the rank, 

Above a Lieutenant, A Major or Colonel ; 

'Tis one room and a kitchen For then you'll be sure of 

The rest of your life. Three rooms or four. 

'Tis all very well I know "Uncle Sam" 

To "flirt" with brass buttons Must be an old bachelor, 

But that's very different For he made no provision 

From being a wife; For an officer's wife; 

With children annoying And the very worst fate 

Your comfort destroying, That I wish to befall him, 

In one room and a kitchen Is one room and a kitchen 

To drag out your life. The rest of his life. 

Anonymous 

(Army Regulations prescribe the number of rooms in a 
post each officer may have. A Lieutenant is entitled to "one 
room and a kitchen" ; a Captain "two rooms and a kitchen," 
and so on, up to a Colonel, who has "four rooms and a 
kitchen." "An officer's wife," who has spent fifteen years of 
her married life on the frontier, sends this as her contribu- 
tion to the Sabre) 

Answer to One Room and a Kitchen 

One room and a kitchen First there is rank 

Is truly annoying, Which we have to contend with ; 

But there are many worse things No matter how nicely your house 

In the army, I'm sure ; Is arranged ; 

No one knows better In comes an order 

Than your humble writer That your husband's superior 

What we poor Lieutenants' Is wanting the quarters, 

wives And "yours" must be changed. 

Have to endure. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 131 

Up come the carpets If our dear young ladies 

And down come the curtains, Who are anxious to follow 

You must obey orders The fortunes of our brave sons 

And must not complain; of Mars 

But while you are moving, "On the plains," 

You take an oath, mental, Could visit but once 

Never to have so much Our posts on the frontier, 

Trouble again. I'm sure they would never 

Be anxious again. 

"Uncle Sam," truly, is a selfish old bachelor, 

He treats well his nephews, but his nieces neglects; 

I wish every one would rise in rebellion, 

And never give up till our rights he respects. 

Anonymous 

Fort Bayard at that time was one of the extreme frontier 
posts, situated in Grant county in the extreme southwest 
corner of New Mexico, about one hundred miles from the 
Arizona line. It was at the head of a small valley, and the 
only supply of water was a small spring, not over four feet 
in diameter, which trickled down through the grass several 
hundred yards and was finally caught in a wooden trough 
from which it was conveyed to the barracks and officers' 
quarters by a waterway. No attempt had been made to pro- 
tect this water supply, and cattle tramped through the little 
stream. It was a great wonder that severe sickness did not 
occur, but this we escaped until 1872 when an epidemic of 
diarrhea set in among the men and nearly the whole com- 
mand was laid up. The post at that time was commanded 
by Brevet Brigadier General Thomas C. Devin, Lieutenant 
Colonel, 8th Cavalry. General Devin had served through the 
War, coming out a Brigadier General, and was one of the 
best officers I ever served under. He was a little, short, stout 
Irishman, with steel gray eyes and an explosive temper. We 
all loved the old man, and most of us stood in a great deal 
of awe of him for, when anything went wrong, he was apt 
to break out in very vigorous language. 

I was almost at once appointed Post Adjutant in addition 
to my duties as troop officer, and was Adjutant under him 
for over three years. When this sickness broke out, he and 
I went down to the water supply ; when he saw the state of 



132 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

affairs, his language was pointed and forcible to say the 
least. He immediately ordered the spring to be walled up, 
covered with planks, and a plank trough laid several hundred 
yards long, so that the water could be kept pure. Lumber 
at that time was exceedingly high, the only supply coming 
from a sawmill about twenty-eight miles distant ; a common 
rough board cost the Government sixty dollars per thousand. 
There was no appropriation to buy lumber for this purpose, 
but he promptly issued a peremptory order to the Quarter- 
master to buy it anyhow. When the vouchers finally reached 
Washington they came back disapproved, and with directions 
that the entire cost be charged to General Devin; I have 
never seen a madder man, and have never heard more 
forcible language. Of course, he at once explained the abso- 
lute necessity of the purchase to protect life and the Gov- 
ernment finally paid for it. 

In August, 1871, I made my first scout, an account of 
which will be found in a previous chapter which I wrote for 
a little magazine published at the Pennsylvania State Col- 
lege, by request of the Kirby boys of Urbana who were 
attending that school, and were the editors. In 1872, in addi- 
tion to my duties as troop officer and Post Adjutant, I was 
put in temporary command of two companies of infantry, 
all of whose officers were absent on various duties. I was 
also made temporarily Quartermaster and Commissary, Post 
Treasurer, Post Signal Officer, and Post Ordnance Officer. 
In the Quartermaster's Department I had one soldier clerk, 
and in the Commissary Department the same, so that I had 
to work from daylight to dark and frequently remained in 
the office till ten o'clock at night making up reports and 
papers. About this time my Post baker deserted with four 
others ; I found at once that he had sold the supply of flour 
sent to the bakehouse to be made into bread, and had eloped 
with the money. Of course, I was personally responsible for 
this and instantly made it good, amounting to about fifty 
dollars. General Devin directed me to take four men and 
go in pursuit. As we had received word that they had been 
seen on the Rio Miembres, a small stream about twenty miles 
east and on the other side of the Santa Rita mountains, I 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 133 

left the Post with my party, all mounted, carrying five days' 
rations in our saddle bags. By the time that we had arrived 
at the top of the mountains darkness had fallen and the trail 
was almost undistinguishable, but by walking ahead and 
frequently striking matches we managed to work down the 
trail, and just at daylight arrived at the ranch on the river. 
Here we rested for an hour and soon found the trail of the 
four men going down the Miembres. There was a slight fall 
of snow on the ground and the tracks were easily followed, 
especially as one of the deserters had a peculiar patch on the 
heel of his boot, and one of my party happened to be the 
shoemaker who had put that patch on. All day we trailed 
them down the valley, expecting momentarily to overtake 
them, but darkness fell and with it came a terrific snow 
storm. We had no tent, of course, and that night was the 
first time that I ever slept in the open in a blizzard, and 
without shelter, but we bivouacked in a patch of cedar trees 
where we could obtain plenty of dead timber. We had a big 
fire and, as each man was provided with a pair of blankets 
and an overcoat, we got along very well. Fortunately for 
me, I had a buffalo robe ; wrapping up in this and drawing 
my soft wool hat over my face, I slept comfortably all night, 
and was astonished in the morning to find six inches of snow 
on top of my bed. The snow hid the trail completely, so we 
hurried down the creek as fast as we possibly could until 
we struck the little town of Rio Miembres. This consisted 
of about twenty miserable adobe houses all occupied by Mex- 
icans. I stationed two men, one on each side of the village. 
I took the other two and searched every house, the Mexicans 
offering no objection, but without avail. We made a com- 
plete circuit of the town several miles out and finally struck 
the trail, where the snow had not fallen, heading toward the 
Rio Grande. We followed this up rapidly, camping that 
night at Mule springs, 50 and the next day reached a little 
settlement on the Rio Grande after a march of forty-five 
miles. Seeing the trail leading into a house, we promptly 
surrounded it and I tried to open the door, but found some- 

50. Mule springs lies west of Fort Thorn (on the Rio Grande) on the road to 
Cooke's canyon. 



134 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

one inside was holding it. Calling Sergeant Thomas, of my 
party, we threw ourselves against the door and burst it 
open ; I seized a Mexican, who had drawn his revolver, just 
in time to prevent him from firing. 

Sitting around the fire at the other end of the room were 
three of the deserters who promptly surrendered. I found 
that one of them, and that my baker, had purchased a horse, 
no doubt with money that he had obtained from the sale of 
the flour, and had fled up the Rio Grande; the other man 
had separated from the rest the day before. We stayed there 
that night and the next day. I took these three to Fort 
McRae 51 and placed them in the guardhouse. To get there 
we had to cross the Rio Grande, which was in flood and full 
of floating ice, but I placed each prisoner behind a man with 
a large horse and, plunging in the river, we swam our horses 
across. Here I left all my party except Sergeant Thomas 
and Captain Farnsworth, 52 of my regiment, who commanded 
the post. He let me have two fresh horses, and that night 
we crossed the Jornada del Muerto, which in English is "The 
journey of death," a flat level desert. Marching forty-five 
miles by moonlight, I reached my old station, Fort Craig, at 
daybreak. Here we obtained breakfast and pushed rapidly 
up the Rio Grande until we arrived at Los Lunas, where I 
secured the services of the Sheriff by telling him that there 
was a reward of thirty dollars for the men. He persuaded 
two Mexicans to let us have fresh horses, leaving our own 
as security. We hurried up the river, going at a trot and 
gallop all day, and shortly after dark swam the river at 
Albuquerque and soon found that my man had left there 
that morning. Here I halted and told the Sheriff to go ahead 
and arrest him, for if I or Sergeant Thomas were present, he 
could not get a reward; he soon overtook the man only 
twenty miles above and brought him back. On searching 



61. Fort McRae was established in 1863 near Ojo del Muerto or the Spring of 
Death, on the north end of the Jornada del Muerto, for the protection of travelers 
along that dreaded road. The reservation was declared by Executive Order May 28, 1869, 
with an area of 2,560 acres. It was abandoned by the military about 1876. 

52. Henry J. Farnsworth was born in New York. He served with the Union 
Army during the Civil War with the rank of Captain of Volunteers July 8, 1864, and 
was mustered out, September 1, 1867, as Brevet Lieut-Colonel. He re-enlisted as 1st 
Lieutenant, 34th Infantry, June 14, 1867, and was promoted to Captain, May 17, 1876. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 135 

him, I found about one hundred dollars in his pockets of 
which I, of course, took possession. He acknowledged that 
he had sold the flour for about fifty dollars and asked me to 
repay myself out of his money, which I did. From here I 
sent word to Santa Fe, and a man was sent out from there 
who captured the fifth and last man. I returned at once 
to Fort McRae, my prisoner riding his pony, which was 
one of the best Mexican ponies I ever saw. Before I arrived 
at Fort Bayard I bought it of him for twenty-five dollars 
cash, intending to present it to my wife for her own use, 
and she rode it frequently up to the time of her death. Ar- 
riving at Fort McRae, I found Captain Farnsworth on a 
scout, but his sergeant let me have a rickety old ambulance. 
We hitched up four wild pack mules ; with one man leading 
each mule, and the prisoners inside, we led them out on the 
prairie, then turned them loose, and I verily believe they 
never stopped running under ten or twelve miles, we gallop- 
ing along behind ; but the driver kept the general direction, 
and that night we arrived at old Fort Cummings where there 
was one company of infantry stationed, having made forty- 
five miles in a little over six hours ; the next day I sent the 
ambulance back, took the irons off my prisoners and marched 
them to Fort Bayard. On this trip I had made a distance 
of about four hundred miles in eight days, an average of 
about fifty miles a day, and shortly afterward received a 
strong letter of commendation from the Department com- 
mander, which afterwards became useful to me when I 
got into serious trouble with the District commander. 

(To be continued) 



CHECKLIST OF NEW MEXICO PUBLICATIONS 
By WILMA LOY SHELTON 
(Continued) 

Middle Rio Grande conservancy district. 

Created in 1923; organized on August 26, 1925; reor- 
ganized in 1927 according to 1927 laws. 

Report of the chief engineer, Joseph L. Burkholder, submitting a plan 
for flood control, drainage, and irrigation of the Middle Rio Grande 
conservancy project, Albuquerque, 1928-29. 2v. 
v.l The official plan approved Aug. 15, 1928. 
v.2 Contract forms and specifications. 1929. 

v.3 and 22 vol. of exhibits containing five special reports and 290 
drawings accompany this report and are a part of it but have not 
been published in form available for distribution, v.l p. 3. 
Annual report of the Board of commissioners of the Middle Rio Grande 
conservancy district. Albuquerque, 1926 

Aug. 26, 1925-Aug. 27, 1926 37p. v.l (J. L. Burkholder, engineer) 
Aug. 31, 1926-Aug. 31, 1927 7p. v.2 (J. L. Burkholder, engineer) 

typew. 
Sept. 1, 1927-Aug. 31, 1928 4p. v.3 (J. L. Burkholder, engineer) 

typew. 
Sept. 1, 1928-Aug. 31, 1929 4, (1) 18p. (J. L. Burkholder, engineer) 

typew. 

Sept. 1, 1929-Aug. 31, 1930 9p. (J. L. Burkholder, engineer) typw. 
Sept. 1, 1930-Aug. 31, 1931 7, 6p. (J. L. Burkholder, engineer) 

typew. 
Sept. 1, 1931-Aug. 31, 1932 16p. (J. L. Burkholder, engineer) 

typew. 

Sept. 1, 1932-Aug. 31, 1933 14p. (C. H. Howell) typw. 
Sept. 1, 1933-Aug. 31, 1934 12p. (C. A. Anderson) typew. 
Sept. 1, 1934-Aug. 31, 1935 27p. (C. A. Anderson) typew. 
Sept. 1, 1935-Aug. 31, 1936 43p. (C. A. Anderson) typew. 
Sept. 1, 1936-Aug. 31, 1937 (5) p. (W. C. Oestreich) typew. 
Sept. 1, 1937-Aug. 31, 1938 8p. (W. C. Oestreich) typew. 
Sept. 1, 1938-Aug. 31, 1939 22p. (Stanley Phillippi) typew. 
Sept. 1, 1939-Aug. 31, 1940 26p. (Stanley Phillippi) typew. 
Sept. 1, 1940- Aug. 31, 1941 17, (7) p. (Stanley Phillippi) mimeo. 
Sept. 1, 1941-Aug. 31, 1942 15, (10) p. (Stanley Phillippi) mimeo. 
Sept. 1, 1942- Aug. 31, 1943 16, (11) p. (Hubert Ball) mimeo. 
Sept. 1, 1943-Aug. 31, 1944 17, (12) p. (Hubert Ball) mimeo. 
Sept. 1, 1944-Aug. 31, 1945 16, (11) p. (Hubert Ball) mimeo. 
Sept. 1, 1945- Aug. 31, 1946 17, (10) p. (Hubert Ball) mimeo. 

136 



CHECKLIST 137 

Sept. 1, 1946-Aug. 31, 1947 12, (12) p. (Hubert Ball) mimeo. 
Sept. 1, 1947- Aug. 31, 1948 12, (10) p. (Hubert Ball) mimeo. 

Middle Rio Grande conservancy district; bondholders committee . . . 
refunding program . . . (Albuquerque) n.d. 35p. 

Official statements . . . 8,026,000 refunding bonds of 1946; bids to be 
received 11 A.M. MST May 27, 1946 at the district's office in Albu- 
querque (1946) 18, A-L p. (Roscoe D. Manning) 

Transcript of Proceedings; organization district. (Albuquerque, 1923- 
26) 309p. (Part 1 case no. 14157) 



Office of state comptroller. 

Established in 1923 ; formulates, prescribes and installs 
accounting systems and post audits all state, county and city 
transactions. 

Biennial report. 

1923-Dec. 15, 1924 11-12 fiscal yr. 

*July 1, 1924-June 30, 1926 86p. 13-14 fiscal yr. (R. H. Carter) 
July 1, 1926-June 30, 1928 96p. 15-16 fiscal yr. (G. Mirabal) 
July 1, 1928-June 30, 1930 (47) p. 17-18 fiscal yr. (R. F. Asplund) 
July 1, 1930-June 30, 1932 39p. 19-20 fiscal yr. ( J. N. Vigil 
July 1, 1932-June 30, 1934 151p. 21-22 fiscal yr. ( J. N. Vigil) 
July 1, 1934-June 30, 1936 168p. 23-24 fiscal yr. (J. O. Gallegos) 
July 1, 1936-June 30, 1938 25-26 fiscal yr. (J. 0. Gallegos) 
July 1, 1938-June 30, 1940 27-28 fiscal yr. (C. R. Sebastian) 
July 1, 1940-June 30, 1942 182p. 29-30 fiscal yr. (C. R. Sebastian) 
**July 1, 1942- June 30, 1946 303p. 31-34 fiscal yr. (C. R. Sebastian) 

An act creating the Office of state comptroller of the state of New 
Mexico. (Santa Fe) n.d. (20) p. 

Circular letters. July 1, 1939-date. mimeo. 

Compilation of rules, regulations and laws pertaining to public officials 
of the state of New Mexico . . . Juan N. Vigil; state comptroller, 
n.p.n.d. (12) p. 

Rules and regulations for the preparation of vouchers, Juan N. Vigil, 
state comptroller; approved by the State board of finance, 1935. 
(Santa Fe, 1935) 4p. 

Rules and regulations for the expenditures of public funds and the 
preparation of vouchers as of May 1, 1945. (Santa Fe, 1945) (6) p. 

Rules and regulations for the expenditure of public funds and the 
preparation of vouchers as of Aug. 26, 1947. (Santa Fe, 1947) 
(6)p. 



"Includes County activities for the 11, 12, 13 and 14th fiscal years. 
**typw. copy in comptroller's office. Not published since June 30, 1942. 



138 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Rules and regulations for expenditures of school funds as promulgated 
by the Office of state comptroller. (Santa Fe, 1940) (4)p. 

Rules and regulations for the preparation of vouchers for expendi- 
tures of public moneys as promulgated by the Office of state comp- 
troller; C. R. Sebastian, state comptroller. (Santa Fe, 1949) (6) p. 

Rules for preparation of motor vehicle reports and reimbursements of 
gasoline, oil and minor repairs incurred on state-owned motor 
equipment, no. 31-1. Santa Fe, 1942. 2p. mimeo. 

State comptroller's prescribed procedure for departmental, institution- 
al, county and municipal auditing . . . C. R. Sebastian, state comp- 
troller, Santa Fe (1940) 8p. 

Travel regulations, amending rules and regulations of February, 1940, 
pertaining to travel reimbursement. (Santa Fe, 1942) 1 leaf 
mimeo. 



Oil conservation commission. 

Established in 1935; regulatory body charged with the 
prevention of waste of oil and gas resources and the attain- 
ment of greater ultimate recovery; governed by the Gov- 
ernor, Commissioner of public lands and the State geologist, 
who is secretary and executive director. 

Circular, no. 1 Santa Fe, 1935 

no. 1 Oil and gas conservation law and general rules and regu- 
lations for the conservation of oil and gas in N. M. Aug. 12, 
1935. Santa Fe, 1935. 31p. Reprinted Feb. 1, 1937. 

no. 2 Special rules and regulations for the Hobbs, Jal, Cooper, 
Eunice and Monument fields, Lea county; issued Sept. 3, 
1935. 

no. 3 Special rules and regulations for the Lea county fields; 
issued . . . Feb. 1, 1937. (Santa Fe, 1937) 9p. 

no. 4 Rules and regulations for carbon dioxide fields in the state 
of N. M. issued . . . July 1, 1937. (Santa Fe, 1937) 7p. 

no. 5 Statutes and rules and regulations for the conservation of 
oil and gas in New Mexico; comp. Nov. 16, 1942. Santa Fe, 
1942. 57p. 

no. 6 Containing rules, orders and oil and gas conservation laws 
of New Mexico, comp. under the supervision of R. R. Spur- 
rier, sec., by Carl B. Livingston. Santa Fe, 1946. 80p. mimeo. 

no. 6-A Abstract of rules, orders, and oil and gas conservation 
laws in New Mexico, by Frank C. Barnes . . . (Santa Fe, 
1948) 18p. 
New Mexico oil and gas production data for 1946 (exclusive of Lea 



CHECKLIST 139 

county) comp. by N. R. Lamb and W. B. Macy. (Santa Fe) 1947. 
171p. 

Orders, no. 1 Santa Fe, 1935 

Report of the cash receipts and disbursements . . . for the fiscal year 
July 1, 1936-June 30, 1937. (2) p. (Frank Worden) 

The San Juan basin of Northwestern New Mexico and parts of Ari- 
zona, Colorado, and Utah; map drawn by L. A. Livingston, ap- 
proved by F. C. Barnes; R. R. Spurrier, state geologist. Santa Fe, 
1948. 

Structures of the San Juan basin of northwestern New Mexico and 
parts of Arizona, Colorado, and Utah; Frank C. Barnes, state 
geologist. Santa Fe, 1949. (map) 

Yearbook and directory, 1943; ed. under the supervision of John M. 
Kelly, directed by Carl B. Livingston and George A. White. (Santa 
Fe) 1944. 117p. 



Penitentiary. 

Finished in 1885; prior to that time prisoners of the 
territory were sent to the Kansas State Penitentiary at 
Lansing, Kansas. 

Report of the Board of commissioners and superintendent. 

Mar. 10, 1885-Dec. 30, 1885. 

Jan. 1, 1886-Jan. 23, 1887 22p. (T. P. Gable) 

Jan. 1, 1889-Dec. 31, 1890. (H. C. Burnett) 

Dec. 1, 1890-Nov. 30, 1892 71p. ( J. R. DeMier) 

Dec. 1, 1892-Nov. 30, 1894 48p. (E. H. Bergmann) 

Dec. 1, 1894-Dec. 31, 1896 60p (E. H. Bergmann) 

Jan. 1, 1897-Dec. 31, 1898 61p. (E. H. Bergmann) 

Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 33d Legislative As- 
sembly Jan. 16, 1899. Exhibit "AA". 47p. 

Mar. 1, 1899-Nov. 30, 1900 32p. (50-51 fis. yrs.) (H. 0. Bursum) 
Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 34th Legislative As- 
sembly Jan. 21, 1901. Exhibit "I", p. 361-384. 

Dec. 1, 1900-Nov. 30, 1902. 22p. (52-53 fis. yrs.) (H. O. Bursum) 
Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 35th Legislative As- 
sembly Jan. 19, 1903. Exhibit "I". 22p. 

Dec. 1, 1902-Nov. 31, 1904. 28p. (54-55 fis. yrs.) (H. 0. Bursum) 
Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 36th Legislative As- 
sembly Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit "I". 28p. 

Dec. 1, 1904-Nov. 30, 1906. 27p. (56-57 fis. yrs.) (Arthur Trelford) 
Also in Message of H. J. Hagerman to the 37th Legislative As- 
sembly Jan. 21, 1907. Exhibit 5. 27p. 



140 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

June 1909-Nov. 30, 1911 23, 19, 25p. (60-62 fis. yrs) (J. W. Rey- 
nolds, Cleofes Romero) 

Dec. 1, 1911-Nov. 30, 1912 28p. (63 fis. yr.) (J. B. McManus) 
Dec. 1, 1912-Nov. 30, 1913 34p. v.l ( J. B. McManus) 
Dec. 1, 1913-Nov. 30, 1914 42p. v.2 (J. B. McManus) 
Dec. 1, 1914-Nov. 30, 1915 29p. v.3 (J. B. McManus) 
Dec. 1, 1915-Nov. 30, 1916 35p. v.4 ( J. B. McManus) 
Dec. 1, 1916-Nov. 30, 1917 36p. v.5 (Thos. Hughes) 
Dec. 1, 1917-Nov. 30, 1918 40p. v.6 (Thos. Hughes) 
Dec. 1, 1918-Nov. 30, 1919 28p. v.7 (Fidel Ortiz) 
Dec. 1, 1919-Nov. 30, 1920 27p. v.8 (Fidel Ortiz) 
Dec. 1, 1920-Nov. 30, 1921 22p. v.9 (Placido Jaramillo) 
Dec. 1, 1921-Nov. 30, 1922 28p. v.10 (Placido Jaramillo) 
Dec. 1, 1922-Nov. 30, 1923 27p. v.ll ( J. B. McManus) 
Dec. 1, 1923-Nov. 30, 1924 29p. v.12 ( J. B. McManus) 
Dec. 1, 1924-June 30, 1925 25p. v.13 (J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1925-June 30, 1926 29p. v.14 (J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1926-June 30, 1927 21p. v.15 (P. J. Dugan) 
July 1, 1927-June 30, 1928 21p. v.16 (P. J. Dugan) 
July 1, 1928-June 30, 1929 22p. v.17 (P. J. Dugan) 
July 1, 1929-June 30, 1930 22p. v.18 (P. J. Dugan) 
July 1, 1930-June 30, 1931 23p. v.19 (E. B. Swope) 
July 1, 1931-June 30, 1932 23p. v.20 (E. B. Swope) 
July 1, 1932-June 30, 1933 22p. v.21 (E. B. Swope) 
July 1, 1933-June 30, 1934 21p. v.22 (E. B. Swope) 
July 1, 1934-June 30, 1935 24p. v.23 ( J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1935-June 30, 1936 21p. v.24 (J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1936-June 30, 1937 25p. v.25 ( J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1937-June 30, 1938 25p v.26 (J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1938-June 30, 1939 27p. v.27 (J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1939-June 30, 1940 23p. v.28 (J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1940-June 30, 1941 44p. v.29 ( J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1941-June 30, 1942 24p. v.30 (J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1942-June 30, 1943 (26p.) v.31 (J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1943-June 30, 1944 (30p.) v.32 (J. B. McManus) 
July 1, 1944-June 30, 1946 (24) p. v.33 (Howell Gage) 
Title varies: Report of the Board of penitentiary commissioners, 
1899/1900-1904-06; Annual Report of the Board of commissioners 
and supt., 1892/94-date. 

Informe bienal del cuerpo de comisionados y del superintendente de la 
penitenciaria de Nuevo Mejico al gobernador de Nuevo Mejico; 
por los dos anos concluyendo Diciembre 31, 1898. Santa Fe, Com- 
pania impresora del Nuevo Mejicano, 1899. 61p. 

Informe de la comision de la penitenciaria de la asamblea legislativa 
vigesima nona del Nuevo Mejico. Santa Fe, Febrero, 1891. Santa 
Fe, Compania impresora de Nuevo Mejicano, 1891 53p. 



CHECKLIST 141 

Informe de la comision de la penitenciaria de la camara de representes 
de la asamblea legislativa trigesima; Santa Fe, Febrero de 1893. 
Santa Fe, Compania impresora del Nuevo Mexicano, 1893. 71p. 
(covers Dec. 1, 1890-Nov. 30, 1892) 

Informe del cuerpo de los comisionados de la penitenciaria al goberna- 
dor de Nuevo Mejico ; por los anos fiscales 54 to y 55 to ; comenzan- 
do el ler dia de Diciembre, 1902, y concluyendo en el dia 30 de 
Noviembre, 1904. Incluyendo el informe del superintendente, H. O. 
Bursum. Santa Fe, Imprenta de la compania publicista del Nuevo 
Mejicano, 1904. 28p. 

Informe de la junta de los comisionados de la penitenciaria al Gober- 
nador de Nuevo Mejico; por los anos fiscales 50 y 51 to; comen- 
zando al dia tro de Marzo, 1899 y concluyendo el dia 30 de Noviem- 
bre, 1900. Incluyendo el informe del supt. H. 0. Bursum. Santa 
Fe, Compania impresora del Nuevo Mejicano, 1901. 32p. 

The other side, Warden Gable's reply to the Report of the Special 
standing committee on penitentiary of the 27th Legislative assem- 
bly. Las Vegas, J. A. Carruth, printer, 1887. lOp. 

The prison labor problem in New Mexico, a survey by the Prison in- 
dustries reorganization administration. Washington, 1938. 2,361 
leaves incl. 8 tables. 
Reproduced from typewritten copy. 

Survey made at the request of Gov. Clyde Tingley and Supt. J. 
B. McManus acting for the Penitentiary commissioners board. 

Report of the penitentiary committee of the House of representatives 
of the Legislative assembly . . . Santa Fe, 1887. 

Report of the committee on penitentiary affairs ; Council of the twenty- 
ninth Legislative Assembly of New Mexico; adopted February 26, 
1891. Santa Fe, New Mexican printing company, 1891. 22p. 

Report of the penitentiary committee of the House of representatives 
of the 30th Legislative Assembly . . . Santa Fe, New Mexican 
printing company, 1893. 71p. 

Reporte bienal del cuerpo de comisionados y superintendente . . . por 
los dos anos que terminan Noviembre 30 de 1894. Santa Fe, Com- 
pania impresora del Nuevo Mejicano, 1894. 48p. 

Reporte bienal del cuerpo de comisionados y superintendente de la 
penitenciaria de Nuevo Mejico . . . por los dos anos que concluyen 
Diciembre 31, 1896. Santa Fe, Compania impresora Del Nuevo 
Mejicano, 1897. 60p. 

Rules and regulations of the Prison board of parole, adopted by the 
Board of parole, April 14-15, 1937. n.p.n.d. (3) p. 

Rules to be observed by prisoners, revised and adopted by the Board 
of penitentiary commissioner, Nov. 1, 1939. (4) p. 

Rules and regulations for the government of the officers, guards, and 
employees. Oct. 14, 1944. n.p.n.d. 8p. 



142 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Public service commission. 

Created in 1941 ; regulates and supervises public utility 
companies with respect to rates and service regulations and 
also with respect to securities issued. 

Annual report 1st 1941/42 Santa Fe, 1942 

July 13, 1941-June 30, 1942 39p. v.l (G. S. Carter) 

July 1, 1942-June 30, 1943 20p. v.2 (J. E. Miles) 

July 1, 1943-June 30, 1944 48p. v.3 (C. E. McGinnis) 

July 1, 1944-June 30, 1948 112 p. v.4 (W. W. Nichols) 
General orders no. 1 1941 Santa Fe, 1941 

no. 1-2 New Mexico public utility act and rules. Chapter 84, Laws 
of 1941, effective July 13, 1941. General order no. 1; 
rules of practice and procedure, effective Oct. 15, 1941; 
general order no. 2: tariff schedule rules, effective Oct. 15, 
1941. (Santa Fe, 1941.) 74p. 

no. 3 Regulations to govern the preservation of records of pub- 
lic utilities, effective Oct. 15, 1941. (Santa Fe, 1941) 21p. 

no. 4 (Governing the sale, lease, or purchase of any public utility 
plant). (Santa Fe, 1941) 1 sheet (Typew). 

no. 5-6 Safety rules and regulations. General order no. 5: elec- 
tric rules and regulations governing the safe use, in- 
stallation and maintenance of electric utility appliances 
and equipment, effective January 1, 1942; and General 
order no. 6: Gas rules and regulations governing the 
operation of gas utilities and safe use, installation and 
maintenance of gas piping and appliances, effective Nov. 
17, 1941 . . . (Santa Fe, 1941). 52p. 

no. 7 Adopting uniform system of accounts for electric utilities 
(effective Dec. 1, 1941) (Santa Fe, 1941) (2)p. mimeo. 

no. 8 Adopting uniform system of accounts for gas utilities 
(effective Dec. 1, 1941) (Santa Fe, 1941) (2) p. mimeo. 

no. 9 Adopting uniform system of accounts for water utilities 
(effective Dec. 1, 1941) (Santa Fe, 1941) 1 sheet mimeo. 

no. 10 Requiring reports of certain proposed extensions (effective 
Dec. 1, 1941) (Santa Fe, 1941) 1 sheet mimeo. 

no. 11 Order adopting uniform system of accounts for water 
utilities (Feb. 23, 1943) 2p. mimeo. 

no. 12 List of retirement units for electric utilities, (effective 
Jan. 1, 1946) Ip. mimeo. 

no. 13 List of retirement units for gas utilities, (effective Jan. 1, 
1946) Ip. mimeo. 

no. 14 List of retirement units for water utilities, (effective Jan. 
1, 1946) Ip. mimeo. 

no. 15 Rules and regulations for dispensing liquified petroleum 
gases. 



CHECKLIST 143 

no. 16 In the matter of rules and regulations governing licenses 

required to procure bonds and insurance under provisions 

of sees. 10 and 11 of chap. 214, N. M. Sess. laws of 1947, as 

amended. 

New Mexico public utility act; chap. 84, Laws of 1941, effective July 

13, 1941. General order no. 1: Rules of practice and procedure, 

effective Oct. 15, 1941 ; general order no. 2 : Tariff schedule rules, 

effective Oct. 15, 1941, (Santa Fe, 1941) 74p. 

Public service commission. Liquified petroleum gas division. 

An act providing for safety regulation and control of the 
liquified petroleum gas industry and repealing chap. 155, 
N. M. Session laws of 1939. Effective March 20, 1947. (Santa 
Fe, 1947) 8p. (chap. 214, Laws of 1947) 

Publicity bureau. 

A guide to New Mexico for the homeseeker, investor, tourist, sports- 
man, healthseeker ; its resources and opportunities in government 
lands, state lands, farming, stock-raising, mining, manufacturing, 
climate, scenery, fish and game. A handbook of facts rev. to May 
1, 1917, by the New Mexico publicity bureau, State land office, 
Santa Fe, N. M. (Santa Fe? 1917) 89p. 

New Mexico, its resources in public lands, agriculture, horticulture, 
stock raising, coal, copper, gold and other minerals. Its attractions 
for the tourist, homeseeker, investor, sportsman, healthseeker and 
archaeologist. Published by the Bureau of publicity of the state 
land office, Santa Fe, N. M., 1916. Santa Fe, State record print, 
1916. 84p. 

rev. ed. Santa Fe, 1916. lOOp. 

Net output of productive mines of New Mexico during 1915. Santa Fe, 
1916. fold, table. 35^x23 cm. (fold, to 25x9 cm.) 



Rio Grande compact commission. 

Ratified and approved March 1, 1939, by N. M. legisla- 
ture for the purpose of effecting an equitable apportionment 
of the use of the waters of the Rio Grande. 

Annual report to the governors of Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. 
1939-1940 41p. v.1-2 (T. M. McClure for New Mexico) 

1941 44p. v.3 (T. M. McClure for New Mexico) 

1942 46p. v.4 (T. M. McClure for New Mexico) 



144 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

1943 47p. v.5 (T. M. McClure for New Mexico) 

1944 54p. v.6 (T. M. McClure for New Mexico) 

1945 43p. v.7 (T. M. McClure for New Mexico) 

1946 39p. v.8 ( J. H. Bliss) 

1947 8p. v.9 ( J. H. Bliss) 

Rio Grande compact. Santa Fe, (1939) 30p. 



Secretary of state.* 

Established in 1846; publishes official documents, pub- 
lications, election supplies and is the depository for proc- 
lamations, appointments, insurance held on capitol 
buildings, copies of reports and duties of all public of- 
fices; ex-officio member of State canvassing board, 
State investment board, State retirement board, sec- 
retary of Capitol custodian commission and is charged 
with a number of other miscellaneous duties. 

Report 

July 1, 1897-Dec. 31, 1898. (Geo. H. Wallace) 

in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 33rd Legislative assembly. 

Jan. 16, 1899. "Exhibit C" p. 109-10. 

also in Council and House journals, 1899. "Exhibit C" p. 109-10. 
Dec. 31, 1898-Dec. 31, 1900. (Geo. H. Wallace) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 34th legislative assembly. 

Jan. 21, 1901. Exhibit "C" p. 115-21. 
Dec. 31, 1900-Dec. 31, 1902. 75p. (J. W. Raynolds) E&S 

also in Message of M. A. Otero to the 35th legislative assembly. 

Jan. 19, 1903. "Exhibit M" lOp. 
Jan. 1, 1903-Dec. 31, 1904. (J. W. Raynolds) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 36th legislative assembly. 

Jan. 16, 1905. "Exhibit M" 8p. 

also published with legislative manual, 1907. p. 11-16. 
Jan. 1, 1905-Dec. 31, 1906. (J. W. Raynolds) 

in Message of J. J. Hagerman to the 37th legislative assembly. 

Jan. 21, 1907. "Exhibit 8." lOp. 

also published with Legislative manual, 1907. p. 11-16. 
Jan. 1, 1907-Dec. 31, 1908. (Nathan Jaffa) 

published with Legislative manual, 1909. p. v.-xv. 



* New Mexico did not become a State until 1912, but the current title for a State 
department is used in this Check List. The office of Territorial secretary was established 
in 1846. 



CHECKLIST 145 

Jan. 1, 1909-Dec. 31, 1910. 33p. (Nathan Jaffa) 

published with Legislative manual, 1911. 
1909-1910-1911 15p. (Antonio Lucero) E&S 

Jan. 15, 1912-Nov. 30, 1912. 20p. (Antonio Lucero) 
Dec. 1, 1912-Nov. 30, 1914. 19p. 1-2 fiscal yr. (Antonio Lucero) 
Dec. 1, 1914-Nov. 30, 1916. 14p. 3-4 fiscal yr. (Antonio Lucero) 
Dec. 1, 1916-Nov. 30, 1918. 17p. 5-6 fiscal yr. (Antonio Lucero) 
Jan. 1, 1919-Dec. 31, 1920. 19p. 7-8 fiscal yr. (Manuel Martinez) 
Jan. 1, 1921-Dec. 31, 1922. 7p. 9-10 fiscal yr. (Manuel Martinez) 
Jan. 1, 1923-Dec. 31, 1924. 7p. 11-12 fiscal yr. (Mrs. S. C. Chacon) 
Jan. 1, 1925-Dec. 31, 1926. 8p. 13-14, 1st V 2 of 15 fis. yr. (Mrs. S. 

C. Chacon) 
Jan. 1, 1927-Nov. 30, 1928. 14p. last V 2 of 15, all of 16, 1st of 17 

(Mrs. Jennie Fortune) 
Jan. 1, 1929-Nov. 30, 1930. 13p. last of 17, all of 18, 1st of 19 (Mrs. 

E. A. Perrault) 
Jan. 1, 1931-Nov. 30, 1932. 14p. last of 19, all of 20, 1st of 21 (Mrs. 

M. R. Baca) 
Jan. 1, 1935-Dec. 31, 1936. 13p. last of 23, all of 24, 1st of 25 (Mrs. 

E. F. Gonzales) 

July 1, 1936-Dec. 31, 1942. 20p. 25-31 fiscal years (Mrs. J. M. Gon- 
zales) 

Jan. 1, 1943-Dec. 31, 1946. 34p. last half 31 fis. yr. 32-34, 1st V 2 35th 
(Mrs. C. E. Cleveland) 

Jan. 1, 1947-June 30, 1948. 48p. last half of 35 and all of 36 fis. yr. 
(Mrs. M. A. Romero) 

July 1, 1948-June 30, 1949. 46p. (Mrs. M. A. Romero) 

Beginning with 1931/32 includes the Report of the Capitol Cus- 
todian Committee. Title varies: Report of the secretary of state 
and capitol custodian committee 1943-46; Audit report, secretary 
of state and capitol custodian committee, 1947 

Abstract of votes cast in 1902. (Santa Fe) 1903. 

An act relating to absentee voting by members of the armed forces of 
the U. S., passed by special session of the sixteenth legislature of 
the state of New Mexico, 1944. (Santa Fe) 1944. 13p. 

Communication of the Secretary of the territory of N. M. in answer 
to resolutions of the Legislative assembly of the territory, Dec. 30, 
1851. Santa Fe, Printed by J. L. Collins & W. G. Kephart, 1852. 
9p. (W. L. Allen, sec.) 

Corporation filings, territory of New Mexico, 1909. List of original 
and amended certificates of incorporations as required by sec. 123, 
chap. 79, Laws of 1905. Santa Fe, 1910. 20p. 



146 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Corporation filings, territory of New Mexico, 1910. List of original and 

amended certificates of incorporation as required by sec. 123, chap. 

79, Laws of 1905. Santa Fe, 1911. 16p. 
The Declaration of American independence, constitution of the U. S. 

of America with the amendments thereto and the organic act of 

the territory of New Mexico with its amendments. Santa Fe, 1867. 

91p. 
Directory of elective officials and legislative manual. 

1939-40 77, (68) p. 

1940-41 77, (70) p. 
Directory of the ... General assembly . . . (Santa Fe) 1912- 

1912 144p. v. 1 

1915 185p. v. 2 

1917 v. 3 

1919 v. 4 

1921 188p. v. 5 

1923 90p. v. 6 

1925 197p. v. 7 

1927 162p. v. 8 

1929 v. 9 

1931 141p. v.10 

1933 v.ll 

1935 v.12 

1937 v.13 

1939 v.14 

1941 (20) p. v.15 

1943 v.16 

1945 v.17 

1947 v.18 

1949 (18) p. v.19 

Title varies v.1-10. Legislative directory. 

Election code of the state of New Mexico, as amended by the legisla- 
ture, 1939 session. Comp. by A. M. Fernandez, assistant attorney 

general, under the supervision of Mrs. Jessie M. Gonzales, secre- 
tary of state. (Santa Fe, 1939) 67p. 

Election code of the state of New Mexico, as amended by the legisla- 
ture, 1941 session. Comp. by C. C. McCulloh, assistant attorney 
general, under the supervision of Mrs. Jessie M. Gonzales, secre- 
tary of state. (Santa F, 1941) 70p. 

Election code of the state of New Mexico; rev. to include all amend- 
ments to Jan. 1, 1946. Comp. under the supervision of Cecilia 
Tafoya Cleveland, secretary of state. (Santa Fe, 1946) 103p. 

Election code of the state of New Mexico; rev. to include all amend- 
ments to July 1, 1949. Comp. under the supervision of Mrs. M. A. 
Romero, secretary of state. (Santa Fe, 1949) 102,xxii p. 



CHECKLIST 147 

Informe del secretario del territorio; J. W. Raynolds, Diciembre 31, 

1900-Diciembre 31, 1902. Santa Fe, Compania impresora del Nuevo 

Mexicano, 1903. 75p. 
Instructions and laws for notary public . . . March, 1942. (Santa Fe, 

1942) lip. 

Instructions for registration clerks ; instructions for clerks of registra- 
tion in carrying out the provisions of chap. 152 of the session 

laws of 1939 relative to permanent registration in New Mexico; 

issued by Jessie M. Gonzales, secretary of state. (Santa Fe, 1939) 

(8)p. 
List of registered motor vehicles. East Las Vegas, La Voz del pueblo 

print, 1914. 52p. 
New Mexico licensed embalmers, valid until April 1, 1943. (Santa Fe, 

1942) (8) p. 
The 1927 election code as enacted by the eighth legislature . . . (Santa 

Fe, 1927) 47p. 
The 1927 election code as enacted by the eighth legislature . . . and as 

amended by the tenth and eleventh state legislatures. (Santa Fe, 

1933) 51p. 
Legislative blue-book, of the territory of New Mexico. With the rules 

of order, fundamental law, official register and record, historical 

data, compendium of facts, etc. Comp. by W. G. Ritch, secretary 

of the territory. 1st ed. Santa Fe, W. C. Green, public printer, 

1882. 154,46 (i.e.50) p. 

"Introductory; New Mexico. A sketch of its history and review 

of its resources. By Hon. W. G. Ritch" p. 5-46, at end of volume. 

Report of the Secretary of the territory and legislative manual 1905- 

1911. Santa Fe, New Mexican printing co., 1905-11. * 

1905 301p. (J. W. Raynolds) 

1907 248p. (J. W. Raynolds) pub. by Albuquerque morning 

journal. 

1909 274p. (Nathan Jaffa) (Includes Official record, 1846-1909) 

1911 333p. (Nathan Jaffa) (Includes Official record, 1846-1911) 

Continuation of legislative bluebook 1882. 
New Mexico blue book or state official register 1913- Santa Fe, 1913- 

1913 411p. (Antonio Lucero) 

1915 389, (6) p. (Antonio Lucero) 

1917 343p. (Antonio Lucero) 

1919 320p. (Manuel Martinez) (Contains war work of New 
Mexico) 

1921 145, (110) p. (Manuel Martinez) 

1923-24 64, (105) p. (Mrs. Soledad Chacon) 

1925-26 69, (103) p. (Mrs. Soledad Chacon) 

1926-27 73, (122) p. (Mrs. Jennie Fortune) 

1929-30 85, (231) p. (Mrs. E. A. Perrault) 



148 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

1931-32 87,(102)p. (Mrs. M. P. Baca) 

1933-34 287p. (Mrs. M. P. Baca) 

1935-36 180p. (Mrs. E. F. Gonzales) 

1937-38 82p. (Mrs. E. F. Gonzales) 

1939-40 238p. (Mrs. J. M. Gonzales) 

1941-42 91, (146) p. (Mrs. J. M. Gonzales) 

1941-42 supp. (71) p. containing the official statistics of the pri- 
mary election. Sept. 14, 1940 

1943-44 176p. (Mrs. C. T. Cleveland) 

1945-46 179p. (Mrs. C. T. Cleveland) 

1947-48 195p. (Mrs. M. A. Romero) 

Continuation of the Report of the secretary of the territory . . . 
and Legislative manual . . . 1905-1911. 

Official register corrected to ... Santa Fe, 1903-1911. 
June 1, 1903 13p. (J. W. Raynolds) 
June 30, 1905 13p. (J. W. Raynolds) 

also in Legislative manual, 1905. p. 31-43. 
Jan. 1, 1907 

also in Legislative manual, 1907. p. 29-42. 
Jan. 1, 1909 

also in Legislative manual. 1909. p. 26-39. 
June 1, 1911 19p. 

also in Legislative manual, 1911. p. 99-121. 

1912 22p. 

Sample ballot; November election, 1920. Santa Fe, 1920. 1 leaf. 

Official roster, list of elective state, legislative and county officers . . . 
Santa Fe, 1915- 
1915-16 22p. 
1918 (16)p. 
1922 (11) p. 
1925-26 (16) p. 
1927-28 (16) p. 
1929-30 (16) p. 
1933-34 (16) p. 
1935-36 (14) p. 
1937-38 (38) p. 
1939-40 (40) p. 
1941-42 (37) p. 
1943-44 (40) p. 
1945-46 (37) p. 
1947-48 (37) p. 
1949-50 (40) p. 

Title varies: 1915-16, called Official register; 1918, State officers 
elected; 1937-40, Roster. 
1919-21, 1924, 1931-32 not published. 



CHECKLIST 149 

Sheep Sanitary Board. 

Established in 1897; appoints inspectors, adopts and 
publishes such rules and regulations as necessary, pre- 
scribes methods of dipping of sheep and necessary quar- 
antine and sanitary measures. 

Report 

Dec. 15, 1898-Dec. 15, 1900. (H. F. Lee) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 34th Legislative assembly. 

Jan. 21, 1901 Exhibit K p. 325-32. 
Dec. 15, 1901-Dec. 1, 1902. (H. F. Lee) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 35th Legislative assembly. 

Jan. 19, 1903 Exhibit P. 20p. 
Nov. 30, 1902-Nov. 30, 1904. (H. F. Lee) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 36th Legislative assembly. 

Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit P. 6p. 
Dec. 1, 1905-Nov. 30, 1906. (H. F. Lee) 

in Message of H. J. Hagerman to the 37th Legislative assembly. 

Jan. 21, 1907. Exhibit 18. 16p. 
Dec. 1, 1906-Nov. 30, 1908. typew. 

Directions for the preparation and use of lime and sulphur sheep dip. 
1902. 

Directions for the preparation and use of tobacco and sulphur sheep 
dip. 1902. 

Direcciones para la preparacion y uso de Bano Para ovejas recom- 
mendado por el cuerpo de sanidad de ovejas de Nuevo Mexico. 
Albuquerque, La Bandera Americana, 1902. 12p. Includes "Direc- 
ciones para la preparacion y el uso de Bana de ovejas con el 
remedio de Tabaco y Azufre." p. 6-12. 

To sheep growers, Apr. 10, 1902. Albuquerque, 1902. 

Important order, July 20, 1901. Albuquerque, 1901. (circular ordering 
the dipping of sheep for scab. Also in Spanish) 

The New Mexico brand book, 1937 . . . (showing all sheep and goat 
earmarks and brands recorded, and all new marks and brands re- 
corded up to February 12, 1937) Albuquerque (1937) 64p. 

The New Mexico brand book, 1939 supplement . . . (showing all sheep 
and goat earmarks and brands recorded from February 1937 to 
July 1939) Albuquerque, (1939) 17p. 

New Mexico earmarks and brand book, 1949 . . . showing all the ear- 
marks and brands registered for sheep and goats at close of books 
Sept. 1, 1949 . . . Albuquerque, 1949. (48) p. 



150 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Special revenue commission. 

Created in 1920 to investigate and report upon the ques- 
tion of adopting an income tax for the state, with refer- 
ence to existing systems of taxation, and appropriating 
money to pay the expenses. 

Memorandum on the revenue and taxation code for N. M., drafted by 
the N. M. Special revenue commission, and embodied in House bill 
no. 100. Memorandum prepared by George S. Downer. Feb. 1920. 
(Santa Fe, 1920) 24p. 

Report of hearings of the New Mexico Special revenue commission 
held at Santa Fe, August 16-20, 1920. (Albuquerque, Central ptg. 
co., 1920) 204p. 

Report of the New Mexico Special revenue commission to the governor 
and the Legislature of the state of New Mexico made in accord- 
ance with chap. 9, fourth state legislature, extra session, 1920. 
Reservations as to main report by Mr. Joeras . . . Santa Fe, 
(New Mexican publishing corp.) 1920. 60p. 

Report of the New Mexico Special revenue commission to the governor 
and the Legislature of the state of New Mexico, made in accord- 
ance with chap. 9, fourth state Legislature, extra session, 1920 
. . . Santa Fe. (Printed by the Santa Fe New Mexican publishing 
corporation, 1920) 324p. 

Report on the New Mexico state educational institutions and the 
general education system of New Mexico, by W. C. Bagley . . . 
With letters from Professor E. P. Cubberly and Professor Geo. D. 
Strayer to the New Mexico special revenue commission. Santa Fe, 
(Printed by the Santa Fe New Mexican publishing corporation) 
1921. 62p. 

Statement by Robert Murray Haig in response to Mr. Joern's dissent- 
ing opinion to report of the Special revenue commission to the 
governor and Legislature of the state of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 
1921. 7p. 



State bank examiner. 

Created in 1915; administers the N. M. banking laws, 
Building and loan laws, the Small loan act, the Credit 
union and Blue sky law. 

Annual report 

1915 57p. v. 1 (R. H. Carter) 

1916 76p. v. 2 (R. H. Carter) 



CHECKLIST 151 

1917 unp. v. 3 (G. H. Van Stone) 

1918 unp. v. 4 (G. H. Van Stone) 

1919 59p. v. 5 (J. B. Read) 

1920 56p. v. 6 (J. B. Read) 

1921 48p. v. 7 (J. B. Read) 

1922 49p. v. 8 (J. B. Read) 

1923 unp. v. 9 (L. B. Gregg) 

1924 79p. v.10 (L. B. Gregg) 

1925 88p. v.ll (W. P. Saunders) 

1926 44p. v.12 (L. A. Taume) 

1927 30p. v.13 (L. A. Taume) 

1928 40p. v.14 (L. A. Taume) 

1929 42p. v.15 (L. A. Taume) 

1930 38p. v.16 (L. A. Taume) 

1931 32p. v.17 (John Bingham) 

1932 32p. v.18 (John Bingham) 

1933 29p. v.19 (John Bingham) 

1934 30p. v.20 (W. P. Saunders) 

1935 29p. v.21 (W. P. Saunders) 

1936 29p. v.22 (W. P. Saunders) 

1937 29p. v.23 (W. P. Saunders) 

1938 31p. v.24 (W. P. Saunders) 

1939 32p. v.25 (N. P. Walter) 

1940 27p. v.26 (N. P. Walter) 

1941 40p. v.27 (W. P. Saunders) 

1942 40p. v.28 (W. P. Saunders) 

1943 40p. v.29 (W. P. Saunders) 

1944 40p. v.30 (W. P. Saunders) 

1945 40p. v.31 (W. P. Saunders) 

1946 47p. v.32 (W. P. Saunders) 

1947 49p. v.33 (W. P. Saunders) 

1948 51p. v.34 (W. P. Saunders) 

v. 1-8 have the title : Annual report of the state banking depart- 
ment; 

v. 9- have title: Annual report of the State bank examiner. 
Reports are for the calendar year. 

An act relating to credit unions; providing for their organization, 
regulation, operation and dissolution ; and declaring an emergency. 
(Santa Fe, 1945) 8p. (chap. 129, Laws of 1945) 

Bank act, an act to define and regulate the business of banking . . . 
Santa Fe, State corporation commission, 1915. 27, (4) p. (chap. 67, 
Laws of 1915) 

Blue sky law . . . effective June 12, 1921. Santa Fe, 1921. 14p. 
Laws relating to the banks of discount and deposit, savings banks, 
trust companies, and building and loan associations, 1910. Santa 
Fe, 1910. 92p. 



152 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Laws relating to building and loan associations . . . 1940. (Santa Fe, 

1941) 12p. 
New Mexico bank act. Chap. 67, laws of 1915; chap. 56, laws of 1917; 

chap. 120, laws of 1919. Santa Fe, 1919. 37p. 
New Mexico bank act ... Santa Fe, 1923. 63p. 
New Mexico bank act, containing enactments governing banks. Santa 

Fe, 1926. 47p. 
New Mexico bank code, 1927; to and including the Session laws of 1927; 

comp. and annotated by Juan A. A. Sedillo. (Santa Fe, 1927) 

143p.xxxvi 
New Mexico bank code, 1929. Building and loan laws, 1931. (Santa Fe, 

Santa Fe New Mexican pub. Corp., 1932) 57p. 
New Mexico bank code, 1933. Building and loan laws, 1933. (Santa 

Fe, 1933) 68p. 

New Mexico bank code, 1939. (Santa Fe, 1939) 64p. 
New Mexico bank code, 1943. (Santa Fe, 1943) 70p. 
Report of condition of New Mexico state banks as of Dec. 31, 1940. 

(Santa Fe, 1941) 1 sheet 
Securities and blue sky laws of the state of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 

1941. 22p. 
Securities and "Blue sky" laws of the state of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 

1948. 28p. 

Small loan act ... (Santa Fe, 1947) 14p. 
Small loan law of the state of New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1939) 7p. 



State board for vocational education. 

Established in 1931 to administer federal vocational 
education. 

Annual descriptive report to the U. S. Office of education, 1937-40. 
State college, 1938-40. 3v. 

The agricultural counselor, v. 1- September, 1925- 
monthly 

Books for home economics libraries. (State college, 1929) 5 leaves, 
mimeo. 

Films for home economics classes. State college, 1946. 15p. 

Home economics counselor, v. 1- Sept., 1925- 

Home economics education . . . course in the high school. State col- 
lege, State department of vocational education, 1931. 165p. 

Graphic standards for furniture designers . . . Santa Fe, 1939. 28p. 
Drawings by W. T. Lumpkins, Jr. 



CHECKLIST 153 

Home spinning and weaving for a vocation. Dyes and dyeing, by D. W. 
Rockey and R. C. Pycha . . . issued January 31, 1933 . . . (Al- 
buquerque, 1933) 101-201p. mimeo. 

New adaptions from authentic examples of Spanish colonial furniture. 
Santa Fe, 1935. 16 drawings mimeo. 

New Mexico colonial embroidery . . . Santa Fe, The department, 1935. 
4 numb, leaves 52pl. 

New Mexico student home economics club. News letter Spring, 1929. 
State college, 1929. 

Revised plans for vocational education in New Mexico under the super- 
vision of the Smith-Hughes act; adopted by the State board of 
vocational education April, 1919, and approved by the Federal 
board for vocational education Sept. 1919. Albuquerque, Central 
printing co., n.d. 52p. 

Spanish colonial furniture bulletin . . . (Santa Fe, 1933) 1 v. mimeo. 

Spanish colonial painted chests; designed from church altars, designs 
from retablos, creative designs . . . Santa Fe, 1937. 4p. 38 draw- 
ings, mimeo. 

Suggestive short unit courses for classes in home economics for adults. 
State college, 1929. 65p. mimeo. 

Tables for the determination of minerals, by Samuel Dinnington- 
Strain. Santa Fe, issued by the New Mexico department of voca- 
tional education, B. H. Sewell, State supervisor of trade and indus- 
trial education, 1935. 27 numb, leaves. 

Tanning bulletin. Santa Fe, The department, 1934. 9 numb, leaves, 
mimeo. 

Teachers of home economics in New Mexico, 1939-40. State college, 
(1939) 

Tin craft in New Mexico . . . comp. by N. M. State department of 
vocational education, Department of trades and industries, Brice 
H. Sewell, state supervisor. (Santa Fe) 1937. 26pl. 
Reproduced from type-written copy. 

Tin frames . . . Santa Fe, The department, 1935. 22 drawings, mimeo. 

Vegetable dyes bulletin. Issued by New Mexico department of voca- 
tional education. Brice H. Sewell, state supervisor of trade and 
industrial education, in collaboration with Mabel Morrow, director, 
Arts and crafts department, U. S. Indian school, Santa Fe, 
Jan. 1934. (Santa Fe, 1934) 8 numb, leaves mimeo. 

Vocational bulletin, nos. 1-7. Santa Fe, State department of education, 
1917-1923. 
no. 1 Plans for vocational education in New Mexico under the 

provisions of the Smith-Hughes act . . . 1917. 22p. 
no. 2 Outline for vocational education in New Mexico . . . adopt- 
ed by the State board of education August 24, 1918 and 



154 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

approved by the Federal board for vocational education, 
Sept. 9, 1918. 42p. 

no. 3 Course of study for automobile maintenance and repair. 
1918. 43p. (Industrial series no. 1) 

no. 4 Revised plans for vocational education in New Mexico . . . 
prepared under the direction of R. C. Miller, director for 
vocational education, 1919-1920. 52p. 

no. 5 State plans for vocational education in New Mexico. 1922. 
44p. 

no. 6 Outline of work being done by the various bureaus, organi- 
zations, and agencies interested in the development of agri- 
culture in New Mexico. 1922. 30p. 

no. 7 Course of study : Vocational home economics all-day schools 

prepared by Ruth Taylor Foard. 1923. 112p. 
Vocational news bulletin. Santa Fe, Department of education, 1921. 

v. 1 no. 1-6; Jan.-Oct. 1921. 

no. 1,6 mimeo. 
Vocational news; the voice of vocational education, National defense 

training in New Mexico, v. 1 no. 1-10. Nov. 1, 1941-Aug. 20, 1942. 

Santa Fe, 1941-42. Discontinued. 
Vocational rehabilitation of physically handicapped persons in the 

state of New Mexico through the Vocational rehabilitation service 

of the State department of vocational education, Brice H. Sewell, 

director. Santa Fe, n.d. (4) p. 
Weaving bulletin. Santa Fe, The department of education, 1937. 23 

drawings, mimeo. 



State board of accountancy. 

Created in 1921 ; regulates the examination, qualification, 
registration and practice of public accountants and pro- 
vides penalties for the violation of this act. 

Register of New Mexico certified public accountants, July 1936- 

July 1935-June 30, 1936 (3) p. (J. B. Stephenson) 

July 1936-June 30, 1937 (7) p. (E. D. Reynolds) 

July 1937-June 30, 1938 7p. (E. D. Reynolds) 

July 1938-June 30, 1939 8p. (E. D. Reynolds) 

July 1939-June 30, 1940 8p. (E. D. Reynolds) 

July 1940-June 30, 1941 8p. (E. D. Reynolds) 

July 1941-June 30, 1942 8p. (E. D. Reynolds) 

July 1942-June 30, 1943 8p. (E. D. Reynolds) 

July 1943-June 30, 1944 8p. (E. D. Reynolds) 

July 1944- June 30, 1945 8p. (E. D. Reynolds) 

July 1946-June 30, 1947 lip. (J. B. Murray) 



CHECKLIST 155 

July 1947-June 30, 1948 14p. (C. L. Linder) mimeo. 
July 1948-June 30, 1949 14p. (C. L. Linder) mimeo. 

Directory of members and code of ethics, Sept. 1, 1933. 
n.p.n.d. (9) p. 

New Mexico public accountancy act of 1947; rules of professional con- 
duct; rules and regulations adopted by the Board. Santa Fe (1947) 
20p. 

State board of finance. 

Established in 1923; has general supervision of fiscal 
affairs and of safe keeping and depositing of all moneys 
and securities in the hands of the state and makes neces- 
sary rules and regulations. 

Minutes of the regular and special meetings from 1923-date on file in 
auditor's office. 

Public moneys act; provision of 1929 Compilation, N. M. statutes, anno- 
tated and amendments by the llth state legislature, contained in 
the 1933 Session laws; approved March 16, 1933, effective April 
15, 1933. Santa Fe (1933) 27p. 

Rules and regulations for the preparation of vouchers^. . . approved 
by State board of finance. (Santa Fe) 1935 (4) p. 



State board of nurse examiners. 

Established in 1923 ; registers all graduate nurses. 

An act relating to professional nursing in the state of New Mexico. 
Approved Feb. 13, 1923 (Albuquerque) 1923. 7p. 

An act relating to professional nursing in the state of New Mexico to 
establish a Board of examiners for graduate nurses and to regu- 
late the practices of professional nursing in the state of New 
Mexico. (Albuquerque) 1925. 8p. 

An act relating to professional nursing in the state of New Mexico to 
establish a Board of examiners for graduate nurses, and to regu- 
late the practices of professional nursing in the state of New 
Mexico. Passed by the thirteenth legislature of the state of New 
Mexico in 1937. (Albuquerque) 1937 8p. 

Curriculum, minimum requirements for accredited schools of nursing 
as approved by the New Mexico state board of nurse examiners. 
Jan. 1924. (Albuquerque, 1924) (12)p. 

List of registered nurses holding cerificates permitting practice in New 
Mexico. Albuquerque, 1939- 



156 



NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 



Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 



1938-Jan. 1939 (11) p. 

1941-Jan. 1, 1942 

1943-Jan. 1, 1944 

1944-Jan. 1, 1945 

1945-Jan. 1, 1946 (25) p. 

1946-Jan. 1, 1947 ( )p. 

1947-Jan. 1, 1948 (17) p. 

1949-Jan. 1, 1950 23p. 



(Ella Bartlett) 
(Teresa McMenamin) 
(Teresa McMenamin) 
(Teresa McMenamin) 
(Teresa McMenamin) mimeo. 
(Mary Pickett) 
(Teresa McMenamin) 
(Hazel W. Bush) 



Title varies: 1938-Jan. 1, 1947 Names of registered nurses . . .; 

Jan. 1, 1947-Jan. 1, 1948 List of registered nurses . . . 
Policies, regulations and recommendations for the accreditation of New 

Mexico schools of nursing. (Albuquerque) 1945. lip. 
Regulations and recommendations for the accreditation of New Mexico 

schools of nursing; adopted 1939 by the New Mexico state board 

of nurses examiners. (Albuquerque) 1939. 12p. 
Rules governing the examinations of the New Mexico state board nurse 

examiners. (Albuquerque) n.d. 4p. 
Rules, regulations and curriculum for accredited schools of nursing. 

(Albuquerque) 1931. 12p. 



State board of registration for professional engineers and 
land surveys. 

Created May 1935; looks after the registration of 
engineers and land surveyors. 

Annual report ... to the governor for the year ending June 30 ... 
containing the law, by-laws, rule and regulations of the board 
with a roster of registered professional engineers and land sur- 
veyors entitled by law to practice in the state . . . Santa Fe, 1935 
June 4, 1935 typed letter 
July 1, 1935-June 30, 1936 
July 1, 1936-June 30, 1937 
July 1, 1937-June 30, 1938 
July 1, 1938-June 30, 1939 
July 1, 1939-June 30, 1940 
July 1, 1940-June 30, 1941 
July 1, 1941-June 30, 1942 
July 1, 1942-June 30, 1943 
July 1, 1943-June 30, 1944 
July 1, 1944-June 30, 1945 
July 1, 1945-June 30, 1946 
July 1, 1946-June 30, 1947 
July 1, 1947-June 30, 1948 
July 1, 1948-June 30, 1949 







(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


37p. 


v.2 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


41p. 


v.3 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


40p. 


v.4 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


41p. 


v.5 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


43p. 


v.6 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


40p. 


v.7 


(W. 


C. 


Smith) 


38p. 


v.8 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


37p. 


v.9 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


37p. 


v.10 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


45p. 


v.ll 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


41p. 


v.12 


(T. 


M. 


McClure) 


57p. 


v.13 


(J. 


H. 


Bliss) 


87p. 


v.14 


(J. 


H. 


Bliss) 


64p. 


v.15 


(J. 


H. 


Bliss 



CHECKLIST 157 



^dbAAWW Ab^rfAV A JLU % 

New Mexico engineers and surveyors registration act. Santa Fe, 
n. d. lip. 



State Budget. 

1917 legislature gave the governor the authority to pre- 
pare and submit to the legislature a complete budget of 
proposed revenues and expenditure for the ensuing two 
years ; items could be reduced or cut out but not raised 
by the legislature ; repealed in 1919. 

From 1919 to 1947 the governor prepared the budget but the legislature 
was free to raise or lower the items; since 1947 the budget director 
submits budget requests to the governor for submission to the state 
legislature. 

Biennial period . . . submitted to the . . . legislature by ... gov- 
ernor of New Mexico. 

July 1, 1919-June 30, 1921 36p. Fourth legislature ( 8- 9 fis. yr.) 
(0. A. Larrazola) 

July 1, 1921-June 30, 1923 43p. Fifth legislature (10-11 fis. yr.) 
(M. C. Mechem) 

July 1, 1923-June 30, 1925 82p. Sixth legislature (12-13 fis. yr.) 
(J. F. Hinkle) 

July 1, 1925-June 30, 1927 83p. Seventh legislature (14-15 fis. yr.) 
(A. T. Hannett) 

July 1, 1927-June 30, 1929 77p. Eighth legislature (16-17 fis. yr.) 
(R. C. Dillon) 

July 1, 1929-June 30, 1931 lOlp. Ninth legislature (18-19 fis. yr.) 
(R. C. Dillon) 

July 1, 1931-June 30, 1933 112p. Tenth legislature (20-21 fis. yr.) 

(Arthur Seligman) 
July 1, 1933-June 30, 1935 156p. Eleventh legis. (22-23 fis. yr.) 

(Arthur Seligman) 
July 1, 1935-June 30, 1937 153p. Twelfth legislature (24-25 fis. yr.) 

(Clyde Tingley) 
July 1, 1937-June 30, 1939 200p. Thirteenth legis. (26-27 fis. yr.) 

(Clyde Tingley) 
July 1, 1939-June 30, 1941 186p. Fourteenth legis. (28-29 fis. yr.) 

(J. E. Miles) 
July 1, 1941-June 30, 1943 263p. Fifteenth legis. (30-31 fis. yr.) 

(J. E. Miles) 
July 1, 1943-June 30, 1945 166p. Sixteenth legis. (32-33 fis. yr.) 

(J. J. Dempsey) mimeo. 



158 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

July 1, 1945-June 30, 1947 178p. Seventeenth legis. (34-35 fis. yr.) 

(J. J. Dempsey) mimeo. 
July 1, 1947-June 30, 1949 215p. Eighteenth legis. (36-37 fis. yr.) 

(T. J. Mabry) mimeo. 



State budget director. 

Created in 1947 ; studies budget requests of all state de- 
partments and institutions and advises the State board 
of finance concerning budget needs. 

Report of budgets submitted by state departments, institutions, boards 
and commissions for the biennium ending June 30, 1951 to the 
governor and state comptroller; for review and transmission to 
the nineteenth legislature as required by chapter 193 of the Ses- 
sion laws of 1947. Santa Fe, 1949. 71p. (J. C. Hester) 



State canvassing board. 

Constitution provides for the returns of every election 
for state officers to be sealed and transmitted to the Sec- 
retary of State, who with the governor and chief justice 
constitute the state canvassing board which canvasses 
and declares results of election. Election returns for 
1911-1941 are in the New Mexico Blue books for 1913- 
1941/42. 

Canvass of returns of general election held Nov. 7, 1944. Santa Fe, 
1944. 1 sheet. 

Election returns, special election held Sept. 17, 1935 on five constitu- 
tional amendments. Santa Fe, 1935. 3 sheets (typed) 

Officials returns of the 1942 primary and general elections and the 
report of the State canvassing board. Compiled by Cecilia Tafoya 
Cleveland, secretary of state. (Santa Fe, Santa Fe press, inc., 
1942) (275) p. 

Official returns of the 1946 primary and general elections and the 
report of the State canvassing board. Comp. by Alicia Romero, 
secretary of state. (Santa Fe, 1946) 1 v. 

Official returns of the 1948 elections; general election, Nov. 2, 1948; 
primary election, June 8, 1948. Compiled under the supervision 
of Alicia Romero, secretary of state. Santa Fe, (1949) 526p. 



CHECKLIST 159 

State corporation commission. 

Established in 1912 ; enforces all provisions of the consti- 
tution and administers all laws passed by the legislature 
designed to regulate and control the corporations of the 
state. The Commission is made up of five major depart- 
ments: Motor transportation dept., Rate dept., Franchise 
tax dept., Insurance dept., and Corporation commission. 

Annual report 

Jan. 16, 1912-Dec. 31, 1912 534p. v. 1 (H. H. Williams, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1913-Dec. 13, 1913 499p. v. 2 (H. H. Williams, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1914-Dec. 31, 1914 345p. v. 3 (M. S. Groves, chairman) 
Jan. 1, 1915-Dec. 31, 1915 351p. v. 4 (M. S. Groves, chairman) 
Jan. 1, 1916-Dec. 31, 1916 328p. v. 5 (M. S. Groves, chairman) 
Jan. 1, 1917-Dec. 31, 1917 116p. v. 6 (H. H. Williams, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1918-Dec. 31, 1918 117p. v. 7 (H. H. Williams, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1919-Dec. 31, 1920 146p. v. 8-9 (H. H. Williams, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1921-Dec. 31, 1922 153p. v.10-11 (H. H. Williams, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1923-Dec. 31, 1924 140p. v.12-13 (H. H. Williams, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1925-Jne. 30, 1926 129p. v.14-15 (Bonifacio M on toy a, 
(chairman) 

July 1, 1926-Dec. 31, 1929 263p. v.16-18 (H. H. Williams, chair- 
man) 
Jan. 1, 1930-Dec. 31, 1931 230p. v.19-30 (J. S. Baca, chairman) 

1932-1935 not printed 

Jan. 1, 1936-Dec. 31, 1937 148p. v.25-26 (Robert Valdez, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1938-Dec. 31, 1938 92p. v.27 (Robert Valdez, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1939-Dec. 31, 1940 142p. v.28-29 (Robert Valdez, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1941-Dec. 31, 1942 144p. v.30-31 (D. R. Casados, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1943-Dec. 31, 1944 158p. v.32-33 (D. R. Casados, chair- 
man) 

Jan. 1, 1945-Dec. 31, 1946 216p. v.34-35 (G. W. Armijo, chair- 
man) 



160 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Biennial report 

Dec. 1, 1912-Nov. 30, 1914 20p. 
Dec. 1, 1914-Nov. 30, 1916 14p. 
Dec. 1, 1922-Nov. 30, 1924 37p. 

Amendments to general corporation laws; chap. 112, Laws of 1917. 
Las Cruces, (1917) 12p. 

An act declaring any mechanical plant, business or establishment oper- 
ated within the state ... to be public utilities and providing for 
the state corporation commission to regulate . . . H. B. no. 403; 
approved March 14, 1927 as amended by Senate bill no. 97, March 
1939. n.p.n.d. 3p. mimeo. 

Constitutional provisions and laws relating to the State corporation 
commission defining its powers and duties, etc. prescribing pro- 
cedure as to hearing of complaints and grievances, and providing 
for filing of tariffs and schedules with the commission by all public 
service corporations . . . July 25, 1912. (Santa Fe (1912) 19p. 

Corporation laws of the state of New Mexico ... to and including 
the session laws of 1917. n.p.n.d. 248p. 

General corporation laws of the state of New Mexico; codification of 
1915, (as amended) including provisions of the state constitution 
relating to corporations, 1919. Santa Fe, 1919. lOOp. 

Corporation laws of the state of New Mexico, general and special; 
compiled from state constitution; codification of 1915 (as 
amended) Session laws of 1915, 1917, 1919, 1921. Santa Fe, 1921. 
308p. 

General corporation laws of the state of New Mexico ; rev. to conform 
to the provisions of the constitution . . . Santa Fe, 1913. 65p. 

General corporation laws of the state of New Mexico, including provi- 
sions of state institutions relating to corporations. Santa Fe, 1915. 
92p. 

General incorporation laws of the territory of New Mexico. Approved 
March 15, 1905. Albuquerque. The corporation organization and 
management co. (1905) 66p. 

Irrigation laws. Provisions of constitution and laws of the state of New 
Mexico, relating to incorporating and government of irrigation 
companies and water users' associations. Albuquerque, 1913. 32p. 

New Mexico incorporations, original and amended, 1905. As required 
by Sec. 123, Chap. 79. Laws, 1905. Santa Fe, New Mexican print- 
ing co., 1906. 13p. 

Railroad map of New Mexico. Prepared under the direction of the 
State corporation commission. (Santa Fe) 1913. 

Railroad map of the state of New Mexico. Prepared under the direction 
of the State corporation commission. (Santa Fe) 1917. 21Vz x 31 in. 

Reply to House joint resolution no. 8, second legislature relative to 



CHECKLIST 161 

passenger fares locally within the state of New Mexico. March 9, 

1915. Santa Fe, (1915) 14p. 
Reply to the Honorable House of representatives of the Third State 

legislature pursuant to House resolution no. 3 n.p.n.d. 56p. 
Special report of State corporation commission to the governor of New 

Mexico. Santa Fe, 1919. lip. 

(To be continued) 



Notes and Documents 

THE LA JUNTA ARCHIVES * 

Missions were established among the Patarabuey Indians of La 
Junta, the region of the junction of the Rio Conchos with Rio Grande, 
as early as 1683, and there are numerous documents available dealing 
with explorations and the founding and maintenance of missions there. 
To the best of my knowledge, the actual records of the La Junta mis- 
sions are not available however. Other available documents deal with 
investigations of the possibilities of locating a presidio at La Junta, 
and with the actual establishment of the presidio in 1760. "El Presidio 
del Norte de la Junta de los Rios" apparently was established in the 
immediate vicinity of the Indian pueblo which had been named Nuestra 
Senora de Guadalupe and on the present site of Ojinaga, Chihuahua, 
on the high mesas south and west of the actual junction of the streams. 

Early in my research on the archaeology and the ethno-history of 
the La Junta area I attempted to locate surviving mission or presidio 
records in Ojinaga itself, but without success. During the last summer 
several Church records were located, and superficially examined, that 
at least overlap the presidio period, although they do not extend back 
to the previous mission period. These records are part of the archives 
of the Catholic Church on the old plaza in Ojinaga and were located 
through the initiative and interest of Mr. Thomas St. Clair of the 
Border Patrol of the U. S. Immigration Service, then stationed at Pre- 
sidio, Texas. 

In the course of checking the ancestry of individuals thought to be 
Mexican citizens illegally in the United States, Mr. St. Clair had official 
access to the various records of modern Ojinaga and thereby discov- 
ered the existence of the older Church records. He kindly informed 
me of his discovery and in June of 1949 succeeded in inducing the padre 
currently in charge of the records to allow me to inspect them briefly. 
A few notes were made at that time and plans were laid for future 
more detailed studies. When Mr. William Newcomb, Sr., of the Depart- 
ment of Anthropology of The University of Texas and Mr. James 
Garner, a graduate student in the department, attempted to investigate 
the records, however, they were refused permission for further inspec- 
tion at that time. 

Although the records are of limited number and deal with extremely 
detailed and specialized subjects, they are nevertheless valuable addi- 
tions to our knowledge of La Junta history and an effort should be 
made to make transcripts or photostats of them before the older vol- 
umes become illegible or are otherwise destroyed. According to my own 
brief notes the records include the following bound volumes : 

(1) "Matrimonies de 1798-1842" (contains some documents from 
the 1770 decade). 

* Prepared for publication by Charles J. Kelley, Associate Professor of Anthro- 
pology and Curator of the Anthropological Museum, The University of Texas. 

162 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 163 

(2) "Matrimonies de 1822 [should be 1842?] a 1862." 

(3) "Libro de Partidos y Bautismos pertenecientes de los anos de 

1856-1857, 1858, 1859, y 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864. 
1856 a 1864." 

(4) "Libro de Bautismos del Ano de 1864. Pueblo de Ojinaga, 

Chihauhua, 1864-1868." 

The books also contain records of visitas of the La Junta mission 
such as Coyame, Mesquites, etc. Many of the older documents deal 
with petitions of soldiers stationed at the presidio for permission to 
marry women of the pueblo. Used in connection with the lists of sol- 
diers stationed at the presidio or sent on the expedition to found it, and 
the lists of converts given in available documents, these records should 
provide considerable enlightenment as to the ethnic sources of the 
modern population of La Junta. The older documents are badly faded 
and cracked and desperately need careful attention, not to mention 
transcription. There may be other records, since the padre brought 
these out one at a time and with considerable reluctance. 

Mr. St. Glair pointed out that several changes occur in the name 
used for the pueblo in the various documents. In the oldest documents 
the name used is "El Real Presidio de Senor Santiago de la Junta de 
los Rios." I saw no usage of the earlier name still current in the 
1750-1760 decade, "Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe." By 1795 the name 
had been shortened to "El Real Presidio de Santiago del Norte" and 
shortly thereafter to "El Presidio de Santiago del Norte." This was 
then further reduced to "El Presidio del Norte," which continued in use 
until November, 1865, when the pueblo name was officially changed to 
"Ojinaga," after Manuel Ojinaga, a leader in the fight against the 
French, and Governor of Chihuahua, who was killed in combat that 
year. Modern Presidio, Texas, preserves in abbreviated form the old 
name. 

Although I have no means of rescuing, photographing, transcrib- 
ing, or studying these archives, I will be glad to aid in every way 
possible the work of any person or institution that is interested in 
saving these fragments of La Junta history which otherwise will 

inevitably be lost. 

* * * 

The Historical Society of New Mexico met in the Women's Board 
Room, Museum of New Mexico Art Gallery, December 9, 1949, at 7:30 
P. M. Officers present were Paul A. F. Walter, President; Wayne 
Mauzy, Corresponding Secretary; Albert G. Ely, Treasurer; Hester 
Jones, Recording Secretary. 

The minutes of the last biennial meeting were approved as pub- 
lished in the April, 1946, issue of THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL 
REVIEW. The report of the Treasurer was adopted. It is appended 
hereto. The Treasurer also reported that the membership of the His- 
torical Society stands at 649. 



164 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Resolutions drawn up by Rupert Asplund as memorials to Dr. 
Edgar L. Hewett, Mr. Francis T. Cheetham, and Mr. Lansing B. Bloom, 
were adopted as drafted. The text of these resolutions is appended to 
the minutes. 

The Recording Secretary suggested that it would be well to acquaint 
people in Los Alamos of the purposes of the Society and to solicit 
their membership. The Secretary was asked to secure lists from Doro- 
thy McKibben, A. E. C. Santa Fe Office. 

Curators' reports were next submitted. 

Mrs. Marjorie Tichy, Curator of Archaeology, reported on the 
accessions of the Historical Society. 

Miss Evelyn Bauer, Librarian, presented the request of the Univer- 
sity of New Mexico that a number of exchange publications be de- 
posited in the University Library, such publications relating to fields 
other than the Southwest. The Society recommended that while publi- 
cations from a number of States should be deposited in the Historical 
Society Library, Santa Fe, others might be directed to the University 
Library, and suggested that details might be worked out later. Miss 
Bauer also reported on library accessions. 

Dr. Arthur Anderson reported on documentary accessions. 

The report of the Nominating Committee was submitted by its 
Chairman, Mr. Rupert Asplund. The following candidates for office for 
the next biennium were named: Paul A. F. Walter, President; Pearce 
Rodey, Vice President; Wayne L. Mauzy, Corresponding Secretary; 
Albert G. Ely, Treasurer; and Hester Jones, Recording Secretary. 
The motion to accept the Nominating Committee's report was unani- 
mously accepted, and the officers elected by acclamation. 

On recommendation of the President, the following new Fellows 
were elected: Dr. Herbert O. Brayer, Fray Angelico Chavez, Dr. 
Charles E. Dibble, Father Crocchiola, and Dr. Theodore Treuthlein. 
The President recommended that certificates be made up and issued to 
the Fellows. 

The President called attention to the gift to the Society of the 
earliest certificate of membership known to exist, issued to Jonathan 
Letterman, 1860, just after organization of the Society (December, 
1859). He stated that Bishop Lamy was also a charter member of the 
Society or one of the earliest members. The President also recom- 
mended that the Society's seal be kept in the Museum safe. 

Upon adjournment, a program followed, consisting of a talk by 
Dr. Arthur J. 0. Anderson on the translation of the Aztec of Sahagun's 
Historia general de Ids cosas de Nueva Espana, being carried out in 
collaboration with Dr. Dibble. This was followed by a talk by Fray 
Angelico Chavez, pertaining to his study of family names and family 

origins in New Mexico. 

Respectfully submitted, 

HESTER JONES 
Recording Secretary 



Book Reviews 

Le Secret de Juniper o Serra, Fondateur de la Calif ornie, 
1769-1784. Maximin C. J. Piette. Washington, D. C.: 
The Academy of American Franciscan History ['Im- 
primerie de Lamirande, Montreal, Canada], 1948. Pp. 
480, 595. Outline maps, photographs, and facsimiles. 
$6.00. 

In his Evocation de Junipero Serra (Washington, 1946) , 
Dr. Maximin C. J. Piette gave to students of the early his- 
tory of the "Golden State" a remarkable bibliographical 
essay which, it was promised, would be followed by a biog- 
raphy of Serra and an edition of his letters. The second part 
of this trilogy has now appeared. 

As in the Evocation, so in the Secret Doctor Piette is defi- 
nitely the philosopher and psychologist. At times it seems 
as if he had forgotten that he is a biographer and is con- 
cerned not so much with Serra's contribution to California 
history as with the problem of determining in what lay 
Serra's greatness. Incidentally, his eventual decision seems 
to be that it was (1) the missionary's supernatural love of 
his enemies, (2) his constant returning of good for evil, 
and (3) his glorification of God through saving the souls of 
"his dear Indians" (pp. 19, 235-40). 

Following a long (pp. 7-29) and somewhat involved 
introduction the author divides his two volume work into 
three Books; these, in turn, are divided into parts and 
chapters. 

Part One of Book I (the latter entitled, "L'entrainement 
du pionnier, 1713-1769") gives what, for lack of evidence, 
is necessarily a rather incomplete account of Serra's child- 
hood and early manhood, his entrance into the Franciscan 
Order and his decision, after reading the lives of the saints, 
to be a missionary in the Indies of America. Dominated thus 
by the fascination of bringing "gentiles" into the church 
he gave up what would probably have been a great preach- 
ing career. 

Part Two describes his voyage from Palma to Cadiz and 

165 



166 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

thence, saved by Santa Barbara from shipwreck (p. 98), 
to Vera Cruz. Here he had to decide whether he should ride 
or walk to Mexico City. Despite friendly advice to the con- 
trary he insisted on the latter and continued this practise 
wherever possible all through his life in California. Part 
way on the journey to the capital he was bitten by a poison- 
ous insect and from that time on he was beset with lameness 
(p. 123). 

Part Three describes his life as a missionary in the 
Sierra Gorda, an experience which was to come in handy 
in California. In 1758 (Part Four) he became a sort of cir- 
cuit rider (missionaire volant) and later a supervisor of 
novices. 

In 1767 occurred the expulsion from New Spain of all 
members of the Jesuit Order. This event (described in Part 
Five) brought about a jurisdictional quarrel between the 
Franciscan Colleges of San Fernando, Jalisco, and Quere- 
tero. Serra participated wholeheartedly in this rather sordid 
affair and his contribution to the success of the Fernandinos 
was so outstanding that Dr. Piette insists it proved that he 
had the makings of an F. B. I. director or a Justice of the 
Supreme Court (p. 195). At any rate the Fernandinos won 
out and April 1, 1763, Serra landed in Vielle (i.e. Lower) 
Calif ornie and during the next year participated in Galves' 
preparations for the occupation of Calif ornie Nouvelle (i.e. 
Upper California) . 

With Book II (La Calif ornie-Naissante, 1769-1784) 
Father Piette begins the life of Serra in Alta California, to 
use the Spanish name for the Golden State. Part One of this 
Book covers Portola's regime and Part Two that of Fages 
(1770-1774). Part Three describes in detail Bucareli's con- 
tribution to the establishment of the California missions. 
Part Four (pp. 3-253 of Volume II) tells the story of Serra's 
battle with Rivera Combat de Cogs (1774-1777). Part 
Five does the same thing with Serra's conflicts with Gover- 
nor Neve (1777-1782). 

Book III (Calvaire de Junipero) is the shortest of the 
three books. Part One describes the near catastrophe result- 
ing from the Bishop Reyes episode ; Part Two gives a gen- 



BOOK REVIEWS 167 

eral account of the Missions in Serra's last days ; Part Three 
recounts Serra's death. 

Despite the fact that Dr. Piette looks upon the Secret 
as primarily an analysis of Serra's character, an analysis 
based largely on the letters which Serra wrote and received, 
the truth is that it will serve the historian fully as much 
as the philosopher and the psychologist. Throughout the book 
the author gives the historical background necessary for 
an understanding of the situations and individuals referred 
to in the letters. As a result, although the Secret is definitely 
tied to the other portions of the trilogy and is really a contin- 
uation of the Evocation, it can function by itself. As an 
actual fact there is considerable duplication of material 
presented in the earlier work; the most notable is the re- 
printing in the Secret of the maps and facsimiles previously 
used. 

For the casual reader the Secret will have an appeal be- 
cause (1) the portion of the letters which the author has 
selected is full of human interest and (2) the author has a 
broad religious and literary background to which is joined 
a modern secular sense of humor. 

For a Californian the most interesting single chapter 
will probably be Junipero et la guerre d' Independence (pp. 
450-458). Who is to gain-say the influence of Junipero's 
prayers and the meager monetary contributions taken from 
the missions' scanty store of pesos! 

For the student of early California history the Secret 
will provide an opportunity to check up on contemporary 
materials such as Palou's famous Vida. Even more im- 
portant, Dr. Piette's strictures as to the accuracy of Uni- 
versity of California writers on this period should start 
a small fur-flying affair. 

From the standpoint of the reviewer the author has 
made only two major mistakes. First, since the people who 
will be most interested in the Secret most often will have a 
reading knowledge of either English and/or of Spanish, all 
three portions of the trilogy should have appeared first in 
English or Spanish. 

In the second place, just as in the case of the Evocation, 



168 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

the Secret lacks an index. It is true that the Table des ma- 
tieres is extensive and that the numerous chapter headings 
may be thought of as substitutes. Unfortunately, these head- 
ings are usually witty stimuli of curiosity rather than 
purveyors of information. 

Aside from these two criticisms the reviewer can pro- 
vide only commendation. Fortunate indeed is it that in 
California's centennial years Dr. Piette has been able to 
produce what will generally be agreed is the "premiere bi- 
ographie complete . . . de Junipero Serra ... la gloire la 
plus pure de la Californie enchantress" (p. 5). 

Occidental College OSGOOD HARDY 

Young America 1830-1840. Robert E. Riegel. Norman, Okla- 
homa: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1949. Pp. 
xii, 436. $5.00. 

Dr. Riegel is author of several standard books: a his- 
tory of western railroads and of the westward movement 
(America Moves West) , of a text on U. S. History, and is 
editor of an Introduction to the Social Sciences. He is well 
qualified as author of the present work, which treats the 
social and cultural history, the life of the common man, in 
the era of Jackson. 

This book deals with the common man's every day life, 
not with the oft told tale of his achievement of the fran- 
chise and his assumption of political power, retold recently 
by the younger Schlesinger, by Joseph Dorfman, and by 
many others. The present work is concerned rather with the 
social and economic account of how he earned his living, his 
education and ideas, the position of women and children, 
and of popular amusements and attitudes. 

In the 1830's the United States was a noisy and aggres- 
sive nation. It was sure that its institutions were the best 
that the world had ever seen. Expanding in view of Manifest 
Destiny, it felt a necessity to inform the rest of the world 
as to its superiority. Aristocracy, the spinning wheel, canals 
and horse carriages were giving way to the world of democ- 



BOOK REVIEWS 169 

racy, factories, steamboats and railroads. With its rise of 
city life, and first power of the working class, this decade 
saw the real emergence of modern America. Dr. Riegel in 
this book has dealt with social and economic phases of his- 
tory which are usually ignored in conventional works, but 
with phases of history which prove this truly a transitional 
period, with great influence upon the future external and 
internal growth of the United States. 

In Part I, the author portrays the American of the 1830's 
as a changing world, contrasting the life of the people living 
in the eastern cities with that in the Ohio Valley, the trans- 
Mississippi West, the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, 
during the heyday of the fur companies and mountain men 
who first explored the West and laid the foundations for its 
conquest by Texas war and diplomacy, by Oregon diplomacy 
and by the Mexican War. 

Part II deals with economic and social life, contrasting 
the problems of the small farmer of New England and the 
Ohio Valley frontier with those of the southern slave plan- 
tation. Problems of the city business entrepreneur are con- 
trasted with those of the daily wage earner. Contrasts are 
also made as to transportation by stagecoach and steamboat, 
canal barge and railroad car. 

Part III covers American social life at home : homes and 
hotels, women, schools and churches, reformers, doctors 
and scientists. Part IV covers Americans at play: sports, 
the Arts, literature and thought. 

Bibliography and index seem entirely adequate. Forty 
pages of illustrations are among the high points of the book 
in social interest, and for value to professional historians 
and teachers. 

This book is the result of preparation and research ex- 
tending over many years. Both as to text and illustrations, 
it seems superior to the Pageant of America, History of 
American Life, or older histories such as McMaster's, for 
its period. To Dr. Riegel all historians are permanently 
obligated; all teachers will find it highly useful. 

University of Nevada AUSTIN E. HUTCHESON 



170 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Frontier Justice. Wayne Gard. Norman, Oklahoma: The 
University of Oklahoma Press, 1949. Pp. xi, 324. $3.75. 

Wayne Gard, the author of Frontier Justice, has placed 
arbitrary limits upon his subject. He has divided his book 
in four rather equal parts, and to them he has given the re- 
spective titles: Vengeance, War on the Range, Vigilantes, 
and Arms of the Law. All phases of justice dealt with have 
for their setting the trans-Mississippi West. The lands of 
mesquite and prickly pears are especially favored. Those 
looking for discussion of frontier justice in the Colonial 
West and on the trans-Alleghany frontier must therefore 
search elsewhere, as must also those interested in this sub- 
ject with reference to the trans-Mississippi West prior to 
about 1835. 

Within these self-imposed space and time boundaries, 
the author has made an honest effort at collecting and di- 
gesting both primary and secondary sources. His search for 
materials placed him in contact (most likely personally) 
with libraries and historical societies throughout the West. 
A wide assortment of newspapers and books, old and new, 
have been consulted in the preparation of this generously 
annotated work. Related here, then, is the story of feuds, 
outlawry, legal and extra-legal law enforcement, and fron- 
tier skirmishes that in the mind of the author exemplifies 
the administration of "frontier justice" as found on the 
Plains, the deserts of the Southwest, and in the mining 
camps of California and the Pacific Northwest. 

Many of the subjects, incidents, and personalities writ- 
ten about are familiar to readers of western history, notably 
the Johnson County War, the Plummer Gang, the San Fran- 
cisco Vigilantes, "Wild Bill" Hickok, and Wyatt Earp. And 
equally noticeable is the omission of subjects that might well 
come under the heading frontier justice : the James-Younger 
Gang (one line is given to Jesse James), mining camp 
strikers in Idaho, and feuds arising from water (irrigation) , 
timber, and oil rights and exploitations. And strangely 
enough, the Mountain Meadows Massacre is not even men- 
tioned. For all its omissions, the book is a comprehensive 



BOOK REVIEWS 171 

narrative of events associated with lawlessness and frontier 
administration of what is considered to be frontier justice. 
The style is readable ; the book is attractively printed ; good 
illustrations and an index are included. 

Indiana University 0. 0. WINTHER 

The Mission of San Gregorio de Abo; a Report on the Exca- 
vation and Repair of a Seventeenth-Century New Mex- 
ican Mission. Joseph H. Toulouse, Jr. Monographs of the 
School of American Research, No. 13. Santa Fe, New 
Mexico (University of New Mexico Press), 1949. Pp. 42. 
Illustrated. $3.00. 

Toulouse's report on Abo first summarizes its history as 
known from documentary sources, from the first visit to Abo 
pueblo by Spanish explorers in the 1580's through the found- 
ing of a mission establishment there about 1625 or 1630 up 
to abandonment of both pueblo and mission in the 1670's. 
Abo and the other "Salinas" settlements were abandoned a 
few years before the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680, owing to crop 
failures and Apache attacks. 

Drawing on hitherto unpublished information, obtained 
by Dr. F. V. Scholes from the Archivo General de Nacion 
in Mexico City, Toulouse summarizes missionary activities 
at Abo in the 1620's, earlier than the previously known 
establishment of San Gregorio in 1629 by Father Acevedo. 
The later seventeenth-century history of Abo is very briefly 
outlined, with a list of the Franciscans known to have been 
stationed there. There is very little discussion of the problem 
of the exact construction-dates of San Gregorio, or analysis 
of the architectural remains for time and sequence of con- 
struction. 

In connection with Toulouse's view that Espejo visited 
Las Humanas ("Gran Quivira") rather than Abo early in 
1583, it may be questioned whether the known presence of 
more than three kivas at the former pueblo is sufficient to 
justify the statement that Luxan's description of a pueblo 
with two plazas and kivas fits only that one site. 

The report next describes briefly the natural setting 



172 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

the underlying and exposed rock formations, largely sand- 
stone, and the plant cover of grasses, shrubs, and junipers. 
Pinon is mentioned in a general paragraph, but not in the 
technical listing of vegetation at Abo. Pinon nuts were found 
in the excavations; pinon wood was used in the mission, 
as well as juniper and larger beams from forest trees of the 
higher mountains. 

After a section on the techniques of excavation used and 
the types of archeological findings, Toulouse describes the 
mission's architecture and the objects recovered within it. 
He speaks of the Spaniards accepting the Pueblo style of 
architecture, a widespread misconception or half truth, as 
recently discussed by J. B. Jackson in the Southwest Review. 
The details of mission construction are well described, but 
no restoration drawings are offered. 

Toulouse, an archaeologist, had to do not only the actual 
field work himself but also all the related interpretive study 
of the material, including documentary history and archi- 
tectural and religious aspects, with a little assistance from 
specialists such as Dean Scholes, George Kubler, and Fray 
Angelico Chavez, and for identification of plant remains 
Volney Jones of the University of Michigan. 

Just published also is the report on another Franciscan 
mission of the same period, excavated, studied, and written 
up by a task force of several specialists: Franciscan Awa- 
tovi, by J. 0. Brew (archaeologist, director of the Peabody 
Museum of Harvard University), Ross Montgomery (Los 
Angeles architect who has studied old Spanish missions for 
at least a quarter of a century) , and others. The report on 
the Awatovi mission (as a Hopi pueblo, in what is now 
northeastern Arizona, historically part of New Mexico) is 
just ten times the size of the Abo report and contains a 
wealth of detail on Franciscan architectural and organi- 
zational or procedural aspects. 

Most of this background information would apply like- 
wise to Abo, and the Awatovi report consequently is useful 
for the fuller interpretation of Abo as well as being an ex- 
tremely valuable study in itself. Singlehanded, Toulouse has 
naturally not been able to equal the monumental Awatovi 



BOOK REVIEWS 173 

publication; but in his report, archaeological in approach 
and arrangement, he has not neglected the other related 
fields. It is regrettable, however, that no restoration draw- 
ing was included to give more life and meaning to the ground 
plan and the photographs. 

On one point Toulouse omits an explanation or theory 
which is given much emphasis in the Awatovi report. In the 
patio or garth of the mission at Abo, as also at Quarai, was 
found an aboriginal kiva within the Christian building and 
obviously related to it. Ross Montgomery points out, in con- 
nection with discussion of the Hopi kiva found underneath 
the Awatovi church, that this was deliberate symbolic super- 
position of a Christian edifice over a pagan temple. 

Other structural features of special interest include 
traces of painted ornamentation of the wall plaster ; a turkey 
pen although no turkey bones were found in the kitchen 
refuse; and a few rooms with no doorways in the friary 
quadrangle, evidently entered by roof hatchways like so 
many Indian pueblo rooms. 

Burials were found in front of and behind the mission 
church, and also within the church under the nave floor, 
as at Awatovi. All the subfloor burials in the Abo church, 
interestingly enough, were of children and were accom- 
panied (like pagan Pueblo Indian burials) by pieces of 
pottery. 

Objects found in the excavation include a good deal of 
pottery and a few other clay objects; animal-bone tubes 
and awls ; roughly chipped stone choppers and neatly flaked 
arrowheads; metates, and manos; fragments of carved 
wood ; hand wrought nails and other metal objects of Euro- 
pean origin; a tiny Venetian glass bead; bones of sheep, 
goat, bison ("buffalo"), and other animals; seeds or other 
remains of corn, cactus, and other native plants, and of 
crops introduced by the Franciscans grape, plum, peach, 
watermelon, cantaloupe, chili, coriander. 

The pottery is largely of local New Mexican Indian manu- 
facture rough dark plain, smooth and polished red, glaze- 
paint polychrome, and late developments of Chupadero 
Black-on-white ; also a few pieces of Tewa, Zia, Acoma-Zuni, 



174 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

and Hopi types. Pottery imported to New Mexico by the 
Franciscans includes not only the Mexican "majolica" ware 
from Pueblo but also true Chinese porcelain (brought from 
the Orient to Acapulco by the Manila galleons) . The locally 
made vessels of New Mexican Indian pottery in European 
shapes soup dishes, redware cups, a black-on-white chalice, 
are of special interest. 

Appendices include a lengthy quotation describing Pu- 
ebla ware and its background, from Edwin A. Barber's 
"Mexican Majolica" (1915) ; and Volney Jones' report to 
Toulouse on the organic remains. 

The Abo report is illustrated with 42 photographs and 
33 drawings of excavations and objects, plus a map show- 
ing New Mexico mission and Indian tribes of 1600-1680. 
Among the few errors observable in this excellent report is 
the mention of the Comanche Indians on the map and once 
in the text. These fierce and feared raiders did not, so far 
as is known, come down into the panhandle region and begin 
to drive the Apaches from the plains of eastern New Mex- 
ico until shortly after 1700, at least a quarter of a century 
after the abandonment of the Salinas pueblos. 

Toulouse did a fine piece of work, in the field, of the 
important excavation and repair of the mission of San Gre- 
gorio de Abo; and now the valuable historical information 
(historical in the broadest sense, taking in architecture and 
crop plants and kinds of pottery) gained in that work is 
permanently recorded and made readily available in a wor- 
thy addition to the School of American Research monograph 
series. 

National Park Service, Santa Fe ERIK K. REED 

A Village That Chose Progress: Chan Kom Revisited. 
Robert Redfield, Chicago: The University of Chicago 
Press, 1950. Pp. ii, 187. $2.75. 

In 1931 Robert Redfield visited Chan Kom, a Maya vil- 
lage in Yucatan which at that time was just coming into 
extensive contact with urban-industrial civilization. His re- 
port on life in the village, written in collaboration with 



BOOK REVIEWS 175 

Alfonso Villa Rojas, Mexican anthropologist and former 
teacher in Chan Kom,* is a penetrating account of the social 
relations and values of a folk people and of the changes that 
occur as a result of their being drawn into the social, poli- 
tical, and economical orbits of a city (Merida) and a nation 
(Mexico). 

In 1948 Dr. Redfield again visited Chan Kom. His ac- 
count of the changes that have taken place in the seventeen 
years between his two visits makes up the subject matter 
of A Village That Chose Progress, a book which, in his 
words, "is a part of the biography of a community, of a 
people who conceived a common purpose, and of what they 
did to realize it." 

The common purpose of the people of Chan Kom was 
to become a pueblo, an independent municipality having di- 
rect political ties with the central government at Merida. 
In achieving this purpose and consolidating their new sta- 
tus, the villagers have rebuilt their community on the pat- 
tern of a Spanish settlement, have acquired a straight road 
connecting them with Chichen Itza and indirectly with 
Merida, have experienced the setting up of a school and 
the presence among them of a series of teachers, have enter- 
tained a cultural mission from Mexico City, have attained 
new levels of economic security, and have withstood the 
effects of a religious schism resulting from the immediately 
successful efforts of a group of Protestant missionaries who 
were for a time in the village. The individual and cumulative 
effects of these and other influences which have operated 
on the village during the past seventeen years are brilliantly 
examined by Dr. Redfield, who brings to his talk not only 
a thorough understanding of the Maya people but also an 
unusual talent for writing with clarity and simplicity of 
matters which in themselves are neither clear nor simple. 

The Chan Kom of 1948, as contrasted with that of 1931, 
had more people, more stone houses, more cattle and hogs, 
more corn in storage, more business establishments, more 
visitors, and somewhat more awareness of and contact with 



* Chan Kom: A Maya Village. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 
No. 448. Washington : 1934. 



176 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

the world outside the village. It had a government and a 
set of officials, two bands, a plaza, and a group of boys and 
young men who wasted their energies in the unproductive 
game of baseball. It had also a few worries that it did 
not have before and a new sense of uneasiness. The old lead- 
ers, who were responsible for the setting of the village goal 
and whose practical wisdom and administrative skill had 
much to do with attaining that goal, were beginning to see 
that change once started is hard to stop and that progress 
has penalties as well as rewards. The changes that occurred 
in Chan Kom were not great, but the implications of those 
changes have profound significance for the future of the 
village, a significance that the older generation was in 1948 
just beginning to grasp and to fear. It is not without mean- 
ing that a number of village leaders have, in the recent past, 
established private agricultural establishments outside the 
village to which they can retire and perhaps maintain their 
old way of life. They are aware that the future of Chan Kom 
belongs to the young men, men who have been to Merida and 
who have liked what they found there, men who will be more 
interested in bringing the new than in preserving the old, men 
who want, as did the generation before them, to define prog- 
ress in their own terms and seek it in their own way. 

The people of Chan Kom are, as Dr. Redf ield points out, 
"a people who have no choice but to go forward with tech- 
nology, with declining religious faith and moral convictions, 
into a dangerous world. They are a people who must arid 
will come to identify their interests with those of people far 
away, outside the traditional circle of their loyalties and 
political responsibilities." And the story of Chan Kom is, 
with variations, the story of all folk people who have come 
by chance or design into intimate or extended contact with 
Western civilization. 

A small amount of progress, like a small amount of preg- 
nancy, represents a goal that is hard not to exceed. One 
could wish that those in our culture who have decided to 
go ahead with the construction of the hydrogen bomb might 
read Dr. Redf ield's book and ponder its moral. 
University of New Mexico LYLE SAUNDERS 



Historical 1$eview 




Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe 



cP 1 



July, 1950 



Editors 
FRANK D. REEVE PAUL A. F. WALTER 

Associates 

PERCY M. BALDWIN GEORGE P. HAMMOND 

FRANCE V. SCHOLES THEODOSIUS MEYER, O.F.M. 

ARTHUR J. 0. ANDERSON 

VOL. XXV JULY, 1950 No. 3 



CONTENTS 

Page 

New Mexico's Fabulous Dorsey 

F. Stanley 177 



Frederick E. Phelps: a Soldier's Memoirs (continued) 

Frank D. Reeve, editor 187 



Checklist of New Mexico Publications (continued) 

Wilma Loy Shelton 222 



Notes and Documents 242 

Book Reviews . . 254 



THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW is published jointly by the Historical Society 
of New Mexico and the University of New Mexico. Subscription to the quarterly is 
$3.00 a year in advance; single numbers, except those which have become scarce, are 
$1.00 each. 

Business communications should be addressed to Mr. P. A. F. Walter, State 
Museum, Santa Fe, N. M. ; manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be 
addressed to Prof. Frank D. Reeve, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. M. 



Entered as second-class matter at Santa Fe, New Mexico 
UNIVERSITY PRESS, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. 



NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL 
REVIEW 

VOL. XXV JULY, 1950 No. 3 

NEW MEXICO'S FABULOUS DORSEY 
By F. STANLEY 

Un*as cmf 

It was about 1878 that America realized that she was fin- 
ally over the Civil War economically. Such vast strides 
in business and finance were made that men looked westward 
to inaugurate an era of unparalleled opportunity, to open up 
vast ranch empires, and to fill the unoccupied spaces of the 
West with meat markets for the East. Looking at the vast 
holdings of these men, we find that nearly every ranch bears 
the stamp of the personality of the man who gave it form 
and movement. Stephen Wallace Dorsey was one of them. 
As he was a man who made and un-made presidents, he was 
not likely to miss the boat when opportunity pitched him 
onto the bandwagon of the cattle barons. ofiF 

Dorsey is the more to be admired because^hQQtfa&trp trie 
hard way. Born of poor parents at Benson, Vermont, in 
1842, he attended a public school at an early age. But not 
for long. Not over ten, he had to divide his time between 
school and work. Every penny was needed at home. Labor 
and study were to be his lot until he was seventeen when he 
exchanged Benson, Vermont, for Oberlin, Ohio. Here, also, 
if he had to educate himself, he had to acquire the financial 
means in the fields with his hands. He was well on the way 
of making a success of it when the Civil War broke out. He 
enlisted as a private in a battery of the First Ohio Light 
Artillery. He was as industrious about war as he was about 
a plow and studies so that a short time found him passing 
through the grades of corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, 

177 



178 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

major, lieutenant-colonel. He was twenty-three at the close 
of the war and held the rank of colonel of his regiment. 

Dorsey is overlooked by writers reporting the Battle of 
Petersburg. There was savage fighting especially at the 
Blandford Cemetery Crater. The Confederates were espe- 
cially bitter because now for the first time the Federals had 
sent in Colored troops against them. Over in another sec- 
tion of the field, Dorsey had erected a fort which he called 
"Fort Hell." Wherever else Federal fortifications caved in, 
Fort Hell managed to hold its own against concentrated 
Confederate fire. 1 

In Washington, D. C., in back of the National Cemetery 
on Harewood Road near the present Bengalese Seminary, 
one comes upon mounds and breastworks dug up in 1864 in 
an effort to defend the nation's capital against the invasion 
of General Jubal Anderson Early. The Confederate cannon 
were almost in range of the Capitol. The guns that turned 
the tide were commanded by Stephen W. Dorsey. Digging 
around on Harewood Road you may still come across a gun 
or sword dropped by Early's men in their retreat. Dorsey 
was wounded in this battle and carried the lead in his body 
to his grave. He little suspected that he was to fight many 
other battles of a different nature later on in life in this very 
city. The war over, the colonel returned to Ohio where he 
was elected president of the Sandusky Tool Company. The 
company made such strides under his direction that the 
Arkansas Central Railway took notice by promptly electing 
him its president. In 1870, he left Ohio and made his home 
in Arkansas. Prior to this he married Helen Wack who 
proved to be as courageous as she was beautiful. All during 
the Star Route Trial she was a companion and an inspira- 
tion. His success with the railroad soon attracted the atten- 
tion of the Republicans of the state who nominated him for 
the United States Senate. On March 4, 1873, he was sworn 
into the Senate, one of the youngest senators thus honored in 
its history. 

In 1872, 1876, 1880, he was chairman of the Arkansas 



1. Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee's Lieutenants, III, 528-548 (Charles Scribner's 
Sons, New York, 1945). 



FABULOUS DORSET 179 

delegation to the Republican National Convention, and in 
the latter year cast the vote of the state for Grant. After 
the Chicago nomination, at the request of General Garfield, 
and backed by the solicitations of the leaders of the Grant 
and Elaine men, Dorsey accepted the position of secretary 
of the National Committee. 

The disastrous results of the Maine election in August disheartened 
the Republicans, and made the Democrats jubilant. Then Senator 
Dorsey went to Indiana to try and redeem the cause to snatch victory 
from the jaws of defeat. How well he succeeded everyone knows. Gar- 
field and Arthur both proclaimed that to him, to his skill as a leader, 
that to his masterful management was due the victory which elevated 
them to power. Declined a place in the cabinet, Senator Dorsey was 
about to return once more to his private business when his prosecution 
this persecution (the Star Route Trial) of him began. In this pur- 
suit every fool money could buy, power frighten, or flattery cajole, was 
used to besmirch him. The press was subsidized, the temple of justice 
defiled, in an effort to drag down this man to whose talent, energy, and 
skill the men who were doing this work were indebted for the power to 
do it. 2 

Meantime syndicates were opening up the West to pro- 
duce the age of the Cattle Barons. When Dorsey returned 
to private life, he focused his attention on great industrial 
projects. In a few years, like Midas, everything he touched 
turned to gold. He would be his own syndicate. New Mexico, 
that Land of Enchantment that was the place to build up 
a superior cattle range, to stock your ranch with the best 
cattle in the country. 3 He did not buy a Spanish Grant as 
some have contended, but section by section he bought so 
as to own enough covering a grant. 4 His first purchase as 
found in the Colfax County Deed Book dates October, 1878. 
Because we are studying Dorsey and his part in New Mexico 
history, and because we wish to make fiction the enormous 
sums he is supposed to have expended in the purchase of the 
land, we quote in full the first deed : 5 



2. Raton Comet, July 6, 1883. Also Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 5 (Scientific 
American Publishing Company, New York, 1904-1906). 

3. Ibid. 

4. Jbid. 

5. Colfax County Deed Book B, pp. 159-162. 



180 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Cruz Baca to Stephen Dorsey 

Witnesseth: That the said party of the first part, for and in con- 
sideration of the sum of $300.00 to the said party of the first part 
in hand paid by the said party of the second part the receipt whereof 
is here by confessed and acknowledged has granted, bargained, sold 
and conveyed and by these presents does grant, bargain, sell, convey 
and confirm unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and as- 
signs, forever all the following described lot or parcel of land situate, 
lying and being in the County of Colfax and Territory of New Mexico. 

The W. V 2 of the N. E. % N. E. % N. W. % of Section 23 and 
S. E. 14 of S. W. % of Section 14 in Township 25 North Range of 27 
East containing 160 acres according to the government survey be 
the same more or less. Together in all and singular the hereditaments 
and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appurtaining 
and the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, 
issues and profits thereof, and all the estate, right, title, interest, claim 
and demand whatsoever of the said party of the first part, either in 
law or equity of, in, and to, the above bargained premises with the 
hereditaments and appurtenances. 

To have and to hold the said premises above bargained and de- 
scribed, with the appurtenances unto the said party of the second part 
his heirs and assigns forever. And the said Cruz Baca party of the 
first part for himself and his heirs, executors, and administrators, does 
command, grant, bargain, and agree to and with the said party of the 
second part, his heirs and assigns, that at the time of the ensealing 
and delivery of these presents, he was well seized of the premises above 
conveyed as of good, sure, perfect, absolute and indefeasible of in- 
heritance, in law fee simple, and has good right full power, and lawful 
authority to grant, bargain, sell and convey the same in manner and 
form aforesaid and that the same are free and clear from all former 
and other grants, bargains, sales, liens, taxes, assessments and in- 
cumbances of whatever kind and nature soever, and the above bar- 
gained premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said party 
of the second part, his heirs and assigns, against all and every person 
or persons lawfully claiming to the claim, the whole or any part thereof 
the first party of the first part shall and will warrant and forever 
defind.6 



6. Ibid., pp. 163-203. 

Thus was Stephen Dorsey launched on his New Mexico career. Most of the 
property was bought in township 25. To clarify the townships wherein Dorsey pur- 
chased property: 23 Roy 24 Hartford 25 Wheatland 26 Chico 29 Capulin to 
Hebron. It was at Chico that Dorsey built his famous mansion and Ingersoll had his 
summer home. 

Following is a list of all Dorsey's purchases as found in the Colfax County Deed 
Book B : From Harry Spegleburger, 160 acres, $50.00 ; Sylvenus Fitch, 160 acres, $300.00 ; 
Louis Wayman, 160 acres, $400.00 ; George Sandusky, 160 acres, $500.00 ; George Smart, 
160 acres, $300.00 ; P. J. Towner, 160 acres, $325.00 ; Juan Sandoval, 160 acres, $300.00 ; 
Emil Hartman, 160 acres, $350.00 ; Luis Arias, 160 acres, $400.00 ; Henry Richardson, 






FABULOUS DORSET 181 

While Dorsey's purchase from Cruz Baca is not recorded 
until 1878, there seems to be evidence that it was bought the 
year before, for in 1877 the Home Ranch mansion was al- 
ready being built at the place that was later to become the 
town of Chico. Wrote a Washington correspondent in 1884 : 

I saw the plan the other day [he refers here to the native sandstone 
addition, with its fantastic gargoyles added to the log portion of the 
building. Completed it cost $50,000.00 and had twenty-two rooms] 
and it is a spacious jumble of architecture, no two rooms alike in form 
or fancy, and but one story except a tower on which there is an observ- 
atory. The house is of logs with the bark taken off and oiled; the 
interior is finished in mountain mahogany and other hard woods and 
no paint is used all the woods being oiled. I think the cost will be 
somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000.00 and as log houses go, this 
rambling mahogany oil-finished conceit will be no 'slouch' of a resi- 
dence, almost fenced by the horizon. 7 

But there were other developments in Washington, D. C. 
The Star Route scandal began with the newspapers. A con- 
tract had been let by the United States post office covering 
rural deliveries, known as the Star Route. A suspicious news- 
paper reporter, either informed, or wise, did some investi- 
gating. Many of the towns reportedly on the route were only 
on paper. Some one was getting rich at the expense of Uncle 
Sam. By 1879, the newspapers of the nation were demanding 
the heads of those involved. Dorsey's brother was in it very 
deep, but the press pointed its finger at Stephen Dorsey be- 
cause he was a national figure. The sentiment aroused by the 
press caused the Postmaster General, in 1879, to apply to 
Congress for a prospective deficiency of two million 
Prospective in the sense that the deficiency hao^^dP 
occurred but would if the expedited and increased routes 
were kept up at the rate then being paid. This application 
brought about an investigation and Dorsey among others 

160 acres, $400.00; J. M. Chavez, 160 acres, $400.00; Norton Shays, 155 40/100 acres, 
$300.00; George G. Sandusky, 160 acres, $400.00; Charles H. Howard, 160 acres, 
$400.00; Davis C. Davis, 160 acres, $300.00; Henry W. Bright, 160 acres, $300.00; 
Juan Santistevan, 160 acres, $300.00 ; Henry Norton, 160 acres, $290.00 ; James E. 
Bates, 160 acres, $300.00 ; James Leary, 160 acres, $300.00 ; John Railston, 173 49/100 
acres, $375.00 ; Francis G. Gilliand, 160 acres, $1,000.00 ; Edward Fowler, 160 acres, 
$300.00 ; Lathrop R. Bacon, 160 acres, $300.00. 
7. New Mexico Review, April 18, 1884. 



182 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

was summoned to stand trial. Fearing conviction, many of 
Dorsey's powerful political friends left him. The investigat- 
ing committee found him innocent. But the New York Times 
was not satisfied. It demanded a trial. This time the govern- 
ment did not appoint a committee, but hired the best lawyers 
in the country to convict all involved in the frauds. Things 
looked black for a while until Dorsey hired Col. Robert G. 
Ingersoll to defend him : 

Mr. Ingersoll, in his closing argument in the Star Route trial 
two weeks ago today, took up one of the affidavits and endeavored 
to show that it could not have resulted in any loss to the government. 
He promised to show every erasure or change in the affidavits was 
evidence of honesty instead of dishonesty. If the jury listened to super- 
stition, if they allowed the smoke of prejudice to whisper in their ears, 
they would think every man a rascal. . . . Ingersoll made a rapid sum- 
mary of the evidence as it appeared to him and concluded as follows: 
'Now gentlemen, the responsibility is with you. The fate of these men 
is in your hands. In your keeping is everything they love. Everything 
they hold dear is in your power. With this responsibility you have no 
right to listen to the whimpers of suspicion. ... It is for you to say 
whether these defendants shall live with honor among their fellow- 
citizens ; whether they shall live in free air, or be taken from their 
wives, from their children, from their firesides, from all they hold most 
dear. ... I want a verdict that will relieve my clients of the agony of 
two long years, that will lift from them the cloud; a verdict that will 
fill coming nights with joy; a verdict that will fill their minds with a 
sense of joy and gratitude forever to you, one and all. 8 

That was the verdict he got. Dorsey was a free man. In 
gratitude for his liberation, Dorsey deeded over a parcel of 
land to the great lawyer : 

"In consideration for the sum of one dollar the south 
west quarter of section eight. The west one half of the north- 
west quarter: another northwest quarter of the southwest 
quarter of section 17 in Township 26 ... etc/' 9 

Ingersoll built a home as imposing and pretentious as 
that of Dorsey's. In fact, of the two men the lawyer left a 
more lasting mark in Ingersoll Canyon and Ingersoll Lake. 
When Dorsey, who knew very little about cattle, first began 

8. Raton Comet, June 8, 1883. 

9. Colfax County Deed Book G, pp. 256-257. 



FABULOUS DORSEY 183 

to buy them, the sellers would parade the steers before him 
right on through Ingersoll Canyon, where they would change 
the brand and re-sell the same cattle to the Senator. 

Ninety-six percent of the money paid to Star Route contractors 
was appropriated by Barlow, Elkins, Salisbury, Parker, and Kerens. 
Dorsey, forced into the business to save himself as bondsman of his 
brother, received only four percent. Barlow, Elkins and the rest were 
given a board of arbitrators [who?] never arbitrated, and Barlow and 
the rest repose in perfect blessedness in the bosom of Mr. Cameron 
and hide their blushes, when Dorsey's name is mentioned, among the 
roses and ruffles and daffodils that bedeck the person of the un- 
ruffled Department of Justice. Why was Dorsey singled out? Why was 
he not wise enough to withdraw from between Republican National 
Committee and the sunshine of Garfield's smiles? Why was he thought- 
less enough to suffer Prince Arthur, even at Delmonico's groaning 
table, to say that the Republican party in 1880 owed its triumph to 
S. W. Dorsey? 

How terrible Dorsey was punished for these confessions of his 
greatness and worth! Gibson and Woodward, the experts and detec- 
tives employed, did their work faithfully and well. They nosed among 
the musty papers filed away in the Post Office Department. But 
they soon discovered that to overthrow Dorsey they must strike 
Brady. . . .10 

After the trial Dorsey bowed out of public life to devote 
his time to his New Mexico ranch and lay the foundation 
for the towns of Chico and Dorsey. Clayton was named after ' 
his son, Clayton Dorsey. He was perpetually having trouble 
with his cowboys. Also he seemed to have lost the golden 
touch. He never was able to attain the heights he reached as 
head of the railroad in Arkansas. More and more he shied 
away from crowds and people. Just the select few in New 
Mexico, they were always welcome. He considered all the 
people of Raton, Cimarron, Springer, Clayton, Folsom as his 
friends and any and all were welcome to his twenty-two 
room Home Ranch for the week-end. Dorsey's became the 
center of social life, as well as a way of life for northern 
New Mexico. The ambition of every young debutante was to 
touch the imported oak and mahogany of the interior, to 



10. Raton Comet, May 25, 1883. 



184 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

walk up the carved cherry staircase, to pick a flower from 
the greenhouse. 

Anna Davis and I had planned for weeks to go to Senator Dorsey's 
new home for the house warming. We knew there would be many dis- 
tinguished guests, and a big dance. On the 14th of February we started 
in two buggies; Charlie Fox and I in one and Anna Davis and My 
Brother, Bud, in the other. As the morning was very cold, we both 
took two blankets and several hot rocks to keep our feet warm. There 
had been no recent snows and the roads were good so the morning 
passed quickly. About noon we arrived at the Dwyer ranch which 
is about twenty miles southeast of Raton on the Una de Gato river. 
Dinner was ready for us, and while we were eating more rocks were 
heated for us. . . . After dinner Charlie called his father in Raton on 
the telephone and let me talk to him. It was the first time I had ever 
talked over the phone and I got quite a thrill. . . . We arrived at the 
Dorsey ranch about 4:30 in the afternoon. 

Mrs. Dorsey met us and took Anne and me to a bedroom to rest 
and get warm. Two other girls from Raton were in the room as there 
were a great number of guests for the house warming. Gov. and Mrs. 
Hadley of Arkansas and their daughter, Mrs. Danforth, and Colonel 
Rogers and his son, Alf, were among the distinguished guests there. 

At six o'clock we were called to supper by Mrs. Dorsey. She was 
a very beautiful woman, with coal black hair and brown eyes. We were 
taken into a large dining room which seated fifty people. In one end 
of the room were two large china closets; on the walls were oil paint- 
ings. The tables were of carved walnut with high backed chairs to 
match. There were several large candilabrums on the tables as the gas 
lights were out of order. I remember that we had chicken salad and 
hot bread along with many other good things for supper. Two servants 
waited the tables. 

After supper we took candles and went to our rooms to dress for 
the ball. . . . Charlie had installed the gas lights, which were a rarity 
at that time, and had them working by the time the dance started. 

The dance started about eight o'clock in the tremendous art gal- 
lery at the large end of the house. In the gallery were large paintings 
which Senator Dorsey had gathered on his travels all over the world. 
During the evening Senator Dorsey showed us over the house. From 
the parlor was a winding staircase and on the stairs, in a niche was 
a bust of General Grant who was an intimate friend of the senator. 
In the library was a very beautiful fireplace copied from the one at 
Versailles. The tongs, poker and shovel were hand wrought brass and 
also copied from the same fire-place. 

In the billiard room was a beautiful black billiard table and on 
the walls were armor and trophies of many wars. . . . The music 
consisted of an orchestra of four pieces. There was a beautiful spinet 
and Mrs. Dorsey played it for several dances. We danced lancers, 



FABULOUS DORSET 185 

waltz, quardrilles, schottish, and polka. The floor was beautifully 
inlaid in hard wood and quite a number of couples could dance at one 
time. ... As usual, in those days, we danced till dawn. . . . n 

Gradually, Dorsey declined. He didn't have the zip any 
more. About 1893, his Home Ranch was lost in a foreclosure 
suit to Sol Floershiem of Roy, a prominent merchant and 
owner of the Jaritas Ranch. As the Montezuma Hotel had 
been doing well as a sort of sanatorium, near Las Vegas, it 
was decided to convert the Dorsey place into a sanatorium. 
But the Home Ranch did not have hot springs nor a Santa 
Fe Railroad to advertise it. It failed. Later on it was ac- 
quired by Mr. and Mrs. Lew C. Griggs, the present owners. 
It is also the post office for Chico. ^ 

I met Steve Dorsey in Wall Street the other day and was surprised 
to see how well he was looking. Dorsey came out of the celebrated 
Star Route trials a bruised and broken man, physically, mentally 
and financially. He was probably more hurt at the desertion of promi- 
nent men whom he had made, and whom he thought his friends than 
from all his misfortunes. 

Before the great Star Route scandal, with which his name was 
coupled, Dorsey was a man who made and unmade presidents. In the 
long and bitter trial, however, that followed the exposures, he found 
himself not only deserted, but pushed to the verge of prison bars 
by the very men he had chiefly been instrumental in lifting into high 
official station. He found himself hounded down by newspapers that 
had tried and convicted him before he appeared before the legal tr^.^ 
bunal that acquitted him. ,r'W ^ 

Treated as a felon and denounced as an outlaw on ^Very^^iBcV* 
his naturally open-hearted, genial nature became soured. Hi^&rew into 
his shell and from the rest of the world. Most of the time was spent in 
the solitude of his far western (New Mexico) ranch, although he had 
headquarters and a business connection in lower Broadway (New 
York). His occasional appearance up-town was invariably the occasion 
for the index finger of the idler and lounger, so he came up seldom. 

His habits of life, very liberal always, became gradually worse. 
He was a brainy man of reckless energy and proud courage, struggling 
in vain against many terrible odds, and pretty soon was down. He was 
very much down, too 

But Dorsey had lots of pluck. He began at the bottom, by changing 
his whole course of life. He disappeared for a while ; now he returns to 
New York looking like a man who had renewed both youth and hope. 



11. James Sinnock in Sagebrush and Cactus (Raton Historical Society, 1930). 



186 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

He is interested in Colorado irrigation with President Patterson, of 
the Traveler's Insurance Company, and others, and it is reported that 
he will soon be on his financial feet more solidly than he ever was. 12 

The Dorsey house is still standing; the Dorsey ranges 
still feed whitefaces; and the Dorsey spirit continues to 
breathe over northern New Mexico. His people are proud of 
what he did here. In the 80's he was northern New Mexico ! 



12. New York Herald, March 12, 1893. 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS: A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 

Edited by FRANK D. REEVE 

(Continued) 

November 25, 1871, my wife presented me with my first 
child, May V. We were very happy, of course, and moved 
shortly afterwards into a more comfortable house and every- 
thing went along smoothly. On the 19th of February, 1874, 
was born my first boy, Morris B., named after Dick Bur- 
nett, 53 but on the 14th of March, 1874, God took the mother 
of my children. Her death was very sudden and entirely 
unexpected up to within twelve hours of her decease. This 
left me in a terrible condition with one child of three and 
one-half, and a baby not yet one month old, and nearly five 
hundred miles from the nearest railroad station ; but on the 
28th of March I started for home, traveling in an ambulance 
with my two children and a nurse. The nurse was a soldier's 
wife, whose term of service was about to expire and who, 
not intending to re-enlist, went with me as one of the escort, 
his wife acting as nurse for the baby. The Post Ordnance 
Sergeant had gone violently insane a short time before and 
I was ordered to take him to Fort Leavenworth enroute to 
the Government asylum at Washington. I had a hard time 
with him; although he only had one arm, he was violently 
insane most of the time and had to be watched constantly. 
The husband of my nurse and a man named Crane, of "I" 
Troop, 8th Cavalry, who had been cooking for us for some- 
time, rode with the crazy man in the light escort wagon and 
we followed in the ambulance. When we arrived at a little 
place called Tecolote, 54 about forty miles below Fort Union, 
the baby was taken violently ill and, though I drove reck- 
lessly for over thirty miles with the mules on a dead run, 
he died within an hour after our arrival at Fort Union ; in 

fact, I am not sure that he was alive when we got there, J&tfv 

V \V X 

53. Dick Burnett was a boyhood friend of Phelp's. He died ofc v*""n]p<9i i&t 
the age of twenty-two. \> J ./A.** 

54. Tecolote was on the old Santa Fe trail about ten miles south VJT Las Vegas, 
New Mexico. 

187 



188 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

days afterwards he was buried in the Post cemetery, four 
of my classmates acting as pall bearers. The cemetery was 
in a deep valley and, after I had left, a cloud burst sent a 
tremendous volume of water down the valley; the hillside 
on the east slid into the valley and the cemetery was blotted 
out of existence. When I returned a year later I could not 
locate the grave, the whole cemetery being buried under 
twelve or fifteen feet of sand and rock; it was simply im- 
possible to find it. Finally I reached the railroad after being 
snowed in twice enroute and arrived at Urbana about the 
first of March, where I left the nurse and May while I pro- 
ceeded to Washington with the insane man and his two 
guards. My mother met me at Urbana and on my return 
from Washington I went with her to Saint Mary's, my old 
home. When my wife died I weighed about one hundred and 
fifty pounds, and when I got home in May I weighed only 
ninety. I was very ill for several months and was finally 
taken to Cincinnati to be examined by Doctor Bartholow, a 
famous expert and head of the Ohio Medical College. He 
asked me if my spine had ever been injured and when I told 
him, "No, not that I could remember," he examined me from 
head to foot. He found a small white scar in the small of 
my back and asked me if I knew whence it came. I remem- 
bered at once that in my first year at West Point I had had 
a fight with another cadet in a room and my foot slipped ; 
I fell across the edge of an iron bunk, injuring my back at 
the time quite severely. He at once informed me that the 
spinal cord had been injured, and that the mental and physi- 
cal trouble that I had experienced had resulted in the disease 
settling in the weak spot. 

I was under his treatment for over six months. He 
advised me to remain in the open air as much as possible, 
especially advising hunting and fishing trips. I returned to 
St. Mary's in September, at once purchased a skiff and 
arranged with Ed Burnett, who lived very near us, and Char- 
ley Davis, his brother-in-law, to camp out on the reservoir. 
On the south side of the reservoir, about half way up, was 
a small island called "Eagle's Nest" island from the fact 
that a pair of eagles had made their nest in a large dead 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 189 

tree near the island for years. There was a little shanty on 
this island and I rented the island for the entire fall from 
the owner for a small sum. Burnett had a rubber tent which 
just fitted over the shanty, making it waterproof. We used 
to build our fire outside. Charley Davis was the cook, and 
a very fine one. We took provisions with us, of course. We 
placed about two feet of oat straw in the bottom of the 
shanty and, being well supplied with blankets and buffalo 
robes, spent most of the fall there hunting and fishing; it 
did me a world of good. Our last trip to "Eagle's Nest" island 
was in November, 1874. The day after we went into camp 
we had what in the West would be called a blizzard. During 
the night the wind blew with terrific force and our little 
shanty rocked; we were afraid it would collapse. We had 
always built our fire outside of the tent ; the wind blew away 
all the embers and we found it impossible in the morning to 
build a fire. 

The ice had formed some twenty-five or thirty feet wide 
around the island, but not very thick; sleet driven by the 
terrific wind beat like shot on the rubber tent, and at first 
we all concluded to remain in our hut during the day. In 
pleasant weather, the ducks generally stay in the middle of 
the reservoir in the open water where it was almost impos- 
sible to approach them, going to the shallow water near the 
shore morning and evening to feed. I knew that with this 
wind and the big waves that were running, they would have 
to go near shore for shelter during the day. So about ten 
o'clock I put on my rubber coat, pulled on my rubber hip 
boots, and started out in my skiff for the mouth of a creek 
about two miles above where I felt I would have good shoot- 
ing, and I did. Tieing my boat to a stump, I turned my back 
to the storm and, as the ducks came flocking in, I had great 
success. The only drawback was that my gun was a muzzle 
loader and my hands became so cold that it was difficult to 
place the cap on the nipple, but I stuck to it till about three 
o'clock when I started back. I had only gone a short distance 
when a flock of geese came by and I knocked one down with 
the first barrel, the second barrel missing fire. The goose 
was only wounded and immediately started swimming out 



190 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

toward the open water ; I followed in hot pursuit, but soon 
found that I would not be able to overtake him, so I stopped 
long enough to reload then pushed on with all my might, 
finally getting near enough to kill him. Just at that moment 
my boat ran on a snag, the roots of which were evidently 
buried deep in the bottom, and I could not get my boat off. 
I whirled it around and round, rocked it from side to side, 
and finally concluded that I would have to jump out, which 
I did, the water being only a little above my knees, but 
unfortunately I stepped into a hole and got one boot full 
of icy water. I then secured my goose, clambered back 
into the boat, pulled the boot off, poured out the water and 
put it on again, but I discovered almost at once that with 
the intense cold my foot would freeze before I could get 
back to camp. The sleet and snow were still driving with 
great force before the wind, so I rowed ashore and, pulling 
my boat up on the land, made my way through the snow 
drifts to a farm house about half a mile distant. The farm- 
er's wife was very kind to me, told me to take off my boot 
and stockings and thoroughly dry myself before a good 
big fire. She brought me also about a peck of oats which 
she heated in a skillet; we poured them into my boot, re- 
heating and replacing them time and again to get the 
dampness out of the woolen lining of the boot. Finally I 
got comparatively dry, returned to my boat and hurried 
down to camp. I arrived there just at dark. We still had 
no fire and the only provisions left were bread and butter, 
but we snuggled down into our tent, lighted our pipes, spent 
a cozy evening and slept soundly all night, notwithstanding 
the storm. The next morning we concluded to break our 
way out through the ice, and I led with my boat, which 
was the heaviest and strongest, breaking the ice with a 
pike pole, followed immediately by Mr. Burnett, who had 
a canvas boat, with Mr. Davis bringing up the rear. We 
had not gone more than ten yards before a cake of ice 
ripped the canvas boat open and it immediately filled, Mr. 
Burnett jumping into Mr. Davis* boat just in time. We re- 
turned to the island and pulled his boat up on the shore. 
I then told them that I, having a larger boat, would strike 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 191 

across the reservoir to Steam's farm just opposite our 
island and about five miles distant, would get a conveyance 
there, go down to the east bank, get a large double-oared 
boat with two boatmen and come up after them. When 
I got into the open water I found the waves running eight 
or ten feet high, and I commenced to fear I was not going 
to get through ; I took off my boots, threw off my hunting 
coat and chained my gun in the boat, so if it upset and I 
should drown they would know what had become of me 
when the boat was found. After struggling hard for over 
two hours I finally reached the shelter of dead trees, which 
extended out into the water for over half a mile in the 
north side, and here the water was comparatively smooth; 
but just as I got into it, one of my oar locks snapped so 
that I had only one oar and my pole left. I poked the boat 
to the edge of the ice and soon found that I was going 
to have difficulty. The ice was too thick to force the boat 
through it and when I went to the bow to break the ice with 
the pole, the boat would drift back. By sounding, I found 
that the water was about up to my armpits, so seeing no 
other way I sprang overboard, the water coming to my 
shoulders, seized the chain at the bow of the boat and, taking 
our axe in my hand, broke the ice ahead of me and waded 
to the drift wood which was piled up along the shore several 
hundred yards wide. Here I pulled my boat up on a log and 
made my way to Anderson's farm, the house of which was 
down near the water and three miles below Steam's farm, 
I having drifted down that far with the wind. I knew Mr. 
Ferguson very well, but he had gone to town, and his 
nephew, a new fellow from Cincinnati, who was visiting 
there, was alone in the house. After I got warm, he went 
out with me to the boat, helped me to carry my ducks and 
goose, my roll of blankets, and a basket of dishes to the 
house. I had eighty-five ducks this time and we had to 
make two trips. He then hitched up a light wagon, took 
me to town and promptly charged two dollars for doing 
so. It was then after dark so I had to wait till morning 
when I hurried out to the east bank, and was just putting 
out with the large boat when I discovered Burnett and Davis 



192 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

coming down in Davis* boat, having left Burnett's boat on 
the island. 

In the spring of 1875 I had so far recovered that I felt 
I could go back to my regiment, though I still had two 
months sick leave left. I saw in the papers that the Apaches 55 
had again broken out in New Mexico. I hurried to Fort 
Leavenworth, Kansas, and reported to General Pope, asking 
him to send me to New Mexico at once. When he learned 
that I still had two months leave, he looked at me rather 
quizzically and asked why I was giving up part of my leave ; 
when I told him that I supposed my troop was in the field 
against the Indians, and it was my business to be with 
them, he informed me that the report was a canard and my 
troop was at its usual station. However, he expressed his 
pleasure when I insisted upon going out anyhow, and told 
me that he would not forget it. The first battalion of the 
6th Cavalry was then in camp at Fort Lyon, preparing to 
march down through New Mexico to Arizona for station, 
and he ordered me to report to the commanding officer of 
that battalion for duty as Quartermaster, stating that the 
battalion commander would be instructed that, when we 
arrived at Santa Fe, I should be relieved from that duty to 
go on down to my station. This was a great help to me for 
the railroad fare to Fort Lyon, then the terminus of the 
railroad, was forty dollars, and the coach fare from there 
to Fort Bayard was one hundred and fifty dollars, so I 
saved all this. 

I went to Fort Lyon and in a few days the battalion 
moved out for Santa Fe. The commanding officer furnished 
me a horse and also a wagon to carry my baggage, which 
consisted solely of one trunk, but of course I filled it up 
with stores so as to relieve some of the other wagons. The 
commanding officer was Captain McLellan 56 of the 6th 
Cavalry; among the other officers I found Lieutenant 

55. In addition to previous citations concerning the Apache story, see R. H. 
Ogle, "Federal Control of the Western Apache 1848-1886," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL 
REVIEW, XV, 189-248 (April, 1940). 

56. Curwen Boyd McLellan was born in Scotland. He enlisted in the Army as a 
private, November 17, 1849. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, May 14, 1861, and 
attained the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, May 6, 1892. He was cited for meritorious service 
against Indians in the San Andreas mountains, New Mexico, April 7, 1880. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 193 

Nichols, 57 who graduated two years after I did and whom I 
knew very well, and he invited me to mess with him. We 
arrived at Santa Fe in June and met the First Battalion, 
5th Cavalry, coming up from Arizona ; I found several class- 
mates and old acquaintances in this regiment. From Santa 
Fe I went down by coach, a distance of two hundred miles, 
and joined my troop. 

When my wife died at Fort Bayard the previous year her 
remains were laid away in the Post cemetery, a desolate plot 
on the slope of a hill with no fence and only one old tree; 
she was buried under this juniper tree. The day after I 
arrived I went to the cemetery and, to my astonishment, 
found that a brick tomb with granite foundation had been 
built above her grave, with a wooden slab set in the front 
giving her name and date of death, and the whole surrounded 
by a neat picket fence painted white. Captain Steelhammer, 58 
15th Infantry, was in temporary command of the Post when 
she died, and was still in command when I returned. I 
went to thank him for this and, to my astonishment, he 
informed me that he had very little to do with it. Before I 
left the Post orders had been received to rebuild it ; a large 
number of military convicts, perhaps sixty, had been sent 
there from various other Posts to serve out their sentences, 
mostly for desertion, and they were engaged in quarrying 
stone for the new buildings. One of these stone quarries 
was immediately behind the officers' line, and just behind 
the quarters that I occupied when my wife died. He informed 
me that a few days after I had left, one of the convicts asked 
permission to see him and told him that Mrs. Phelps had 
always been very kind to the convicts, that they had ap- 
pointed him a committee to ask the commanding officer for 
permission to burn brick and build a tomb over her grave 
and put a fence around it, and to show that they did not ask 
this to get out of their other labor, they asked that they 



57. Thomas Brainard Nichols was born in Vermont. He graduated from the 
United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 6th Cavalry, 
June 14, 1872. He resigned from the service, June 80, 1876. 

58. Charles Steelhammer was born in Sweden. He enlisted in the Union Army 
during the Civil War as a private ; commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, September 2, 1864, 
he was promoted to the rank of Captain, November 1, 1866. 



194 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

might be allowed to do it on Sundays, the only day of rest 
they had. He gave them permission, and they built the stone 
foundation ; they burned the brick from clay taken from a 
bank near by, prepared the board themselves, painfully 
sawed the railings and pickets out of two-inch plank by 
hand, dressed them neatly and put up the fence. He told 
me that one man, named Boyle, who was my old friend the 
baker, whom I had captured the year before, was the leader. 
I sent for Boyle and asked him about the matter, why he 
and the others had gone to all this trouble, as I did not 
know that my wife knew any of them. He told me that when 
they were working in the stone quarry and I had gone to 
my office, Mrs. Phelps used to come to the back door and 
ask the sentry, who was guarding them, to let six of them 
come to the kitchen where she gave them a good meal. He 
also asked me if I had never noticed that there was no cold 
meat or pieces of bread or things of that kind left in the 
house, also if I had never noticed that my smoking tobacco 
must have gone rapidly. I laughed and said, "Yes." I always 
supposed my servant took it. He said, "Mrs. Phelps used to 
give us all the cold bread and meat in the house, frequently 
pie or cake, and also gave us a hand full of smoking tobacco 
each;" tobacco was not furnished to prisoners, and they 
appreciated that above everything else. He said she used to 
stand in the front door and if she saw me coming she would 
run back and warn them, when they would hustle out to their 
work. They had so appreciated this that they kept a regular 
roster so that each man got his dinner and tobacco in turn. 
They had fixed the grave to show their appreciation of 
what she had done for them. When she was buried, her 
remains were carried to the grave by six sergeants of my 
troop, and I think every man of the garrison, except the 
necessary guard, attended. 

I remember noticing also, and very much to my astonish- 
ment, a large number of convicts, under guard, standing 
near the soldiers, and I wondered how they came to be 
there; when I asked Steelhammer about it, he informed me 
that the convicts had asked special permission to attend the 
funeral and he had allowed it, sending a guard of course 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 195 

with them. I asked Boyle how long he had yet to serve. He 
told me his sentence was three years and that he had served 
about one-half of it. I looked up his record and found that 
he had been a model prisoner, not having a mark against 
him, so I told him to put in an application for a pardon, which 
was forwarded through the usual official channels; at the 
same time I wrote a personal letter to General Pope telling 
him all these facts, and he promptly pardoned him. When 
the order for his release came, I sent for him and asked 
him if he wanted work. He said he did, very much. I told 
him that I knew the manager of a silver mine about ten miles 
east of there who was anxious to get good men, that I had 
spoken to him and he said he would give Boyle employment 
at good wages. I gave Boyle some money and told him to 
report at the mine as soon as possible. Poor fellow, my 
kindness was fatal to him, for two days afterwards his body 
was found on the trail leading to the mine, bristling with 
Apache arrows ; it would have been better to have left him 
in the prison. 

In December of that same year I received an order to 
proceed at once to Santa Fe and to report to Lieutenant 
Philip Reade, 59 a former classmate, now a retired Brigadier 
General, for duty, under his orders, building a military tele- 
graph line from Santa Fe down the Rio Grande through to 
Arizona. I obeyed the order immediately and had gotten as 
far as Fort Selden on the Rio Grande, where I met the 
Colonel of my regiment, J. Irwin Gregg, 60 with headquarters 
and one troop, enroute to Texas. The order transferring the 
regiment by marching from New Mexico to Texas had come 
out some two weeks before, and one troop had already left 
Fort Bayard for Texas; it was understood that my troop 
would not go till spring, but General Gregg informed me that 
a new order from Department headquarters ordered my 

59. Philip Reade was born in Massachusetts. He graduated from the United 
States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, May 13, 1867. He was 
promoted to 1st Lieutenant, December 8, 1878. 

60. John Irwin Gregg was born in Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the Army as a 
private, December 29, 1846, and was mustered out with the rank of Captain, August 
14, 1848. He re-enlisted at the outbreak of the Civil War and was mustered out with 
the rank of Major General of Volunteers. He again enlisted with the rank of Colonel, 
8th Cavalry, July 28, 1866. 



196 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

troop to proceed at once. I showed him my order to go to 
Santa Fe, which order had been issued by the District com- 
mander, General Granger, 61 Colonel of the 15th Infantry. 
He called my attention to the fact that orders from Depart- 
ment headquarters were of more recent date than my order 
from District Headquarters, and came from higher author- 
ity; he told me that, in his opinion, I should obey the last 
order, especially as it came from higher authority and, as 
it ordered my troop to Texas, and did not except me, it was 
my duty to return to my troop at once and go with it to 
Texas. I immediately returned to Fort Bayard, reporting 
my action by mail, and in about a week I received another 
order from the District commander peremptorily ordering 
me to report at Santa Fe, which I did. General Granger, the 
District commander, and Colonel of the 15th Infantry, had 
been a Major General during the war, and was a very dis- 
tinguished soldier, but arbitrary and overbearing. When I 
reported to him, he asked me sternly why I had not obeyed 
the first order. I explained all the circumstances to him 
and called his attention to the fact that I was practically 
between two fires : that the District commander had ordered 
me to Santa Fe and the Department commander, who was 
his superior and knew of the order, had ordered my troop 
to go to Texas at once, and had not excepted me from the 
provisions of that order; that I had been advised by my 
own Colonel, also a distinguished soldier of the Civil War, 
to join my troop and that, in perfect good faith, I had taken 
his advice. I knew what was behind all this anger on his 
part. General Granger, though a fine officer in some re- 
spects, was a foul mouthed brute in conversation and a hard 
drinker; a great many ladies declined to have anything to 
do with him. He had been to my station the year previous 
on an inspection tour; my wife had declined to meet him 
and he was very sore on that subject. He informed me that 
if I would apologize to him personally for my wife's refusal 

61. Gordon Granger was born in New York. He graduated from the United 
States Military Academy and was commissioned Brevet 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry, 
July 1, 1845. He attained the rank of Major General, March 13, 1865. See the DAB 
and Appletons' Cyclopedia. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 197 

to meet him he would overlook the matter. Of course I 
promptly refused, and he informed me that I would be tried 
by courtmartial for disobedience of orders. I knew that no 
court would convict me; although I expected to be put in 
irons, I was not, for some reason, and was ordered to remain 
at Santa Fe until a court could be ordered. The Acting 
Assistant Adjutant General of the District at that time was 
Lieutenant Thomas Blair, 62 15th Infantry, and an intimate 
personal friend of mine. The next morning about nine 
o'clock he came to the hotel and, slapping me on the shoulder, 
said, "Old man, the Lord is certainly on your side. General 
Granger fell dead in his offiqe an hour ago." Pulling a bundle 
of papers out of his pocket, he grinned as he said, "Allow 
me to present to you the charges he had preferred against 
you, and which were lying on his desk awaiting his signature 
when the devil got him." I have never forgotten in all these 
years the look of satisfaction on Blair's face, for he, like 
all the other officers, utterly despised General Granger. I 
immediately reported to Lieutenant Reade, and in a few days 
started south, having been directed to begin my work, at a 
little Mexican town called Los Lunas, 63 building the line 
from Los Lunas to Fort Craig, a distance of about one hun- 
dred miles. I left Santa Fe with my detachment of about 
thirty soldiers, five six-mule wagons loaded with rations, 
wire, tents and tools, and on the last day of 1875 I arrived 
at Albuquerque. There was no bridge across the river and 
the ferry boat was some two miles above the town. I directed 
my men to march up to the ferry boat, cross over and come 
down on the other side to the ford, which was just below 
the town, while I proceeded to the ford with the wagons to 
see them across. The river was full of floating ice and very 
high. I knew the ford was full of quick sand. My wagons 
being heavily loaded, I was in doubt if we would be able to 



G 

62. Thomas Blair was born in Scotland. He enlisted iiL #jfTl)Aion Armg 

private at the close of the Civil War and was commissioned 2nd LieirtejjafcV, may 22, 
1867. He attained the rank of Captain, August 25, 1877, and was dismissed from the 
service, August 5, 1879. His proper name was Thomas Blair Nicholl. 

63. Los Lunas is an early Spanish settlement about twenty miles south of Albu- 
querque ; it was named after the Luna family. 



198 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

cross, but by doubling the teams, putting twelve mules to 
a wagon, I got all across but one which was loaded with 
coils of telegraph wire. Just as this wagon was in the middle 
of the river the tongue pulled out and the wagon commenced 
to settle immediately in the quick sand. To my great amuse- 
ment I found that about a dozen of the men, thinking to 
save themselves a march of five or six miles up to and back 
from the ford, had concealed themselves in this wagon, the 
heavy canvas cover hiding them, and here they were ma- 
rooned in the middle of the river. I immediately ordered 
them to jump out and each man take a coil of telegraph 
wire and wade across. The water was above their waists, 
but they were up against it and it didn't take them very 
long to unload the wagon. We then fastened a heavy chain 
to the front axle, attached six mules to the end of the chain 
and pulled the wagon through. Each wagon carried an extra 
pole ; it did not take very long to put a new one in place and 
we hurried to the nearest village, about eight miles, where 
we went into camp. 

When I saw how cheerfully the men worked in the ice 
water, I sent a man back to Albuquerque and bought a gallon 
of fiery whiskey; when we were through, I gave each man 
two or three big drinks and told them to march rapidly ahead 
of the wagons to keep from getting chilled, and they all 
came out all right. From January to April I was engaged 
in building this line, and finally ran the wire into Fort Craig, 
about the middle of April; then I received orders to join my 
regiment in Texas. I took the stage coach to Santa Fe and 
from Santa Fe to Kit Carson, whence I proceeded by rail 
to Fort Leavenworth. I had not seen my child May for over 
a year. When I asked General Pope for thirty days leave 
before proceeding to Texas, he looked at me a moment and 
said, "You are the young man who gave up part of his leave 
last year because you thought your troop was going into 
the field, are you not?" When I said, "Yes," he told me I 
could have my thirty days leave. I hurried home and spent 
three weeks at Urbana, Saint Mary's, and Celina. After 
Maria's death, I had moved Aunt Martha Cowan and my 
wife's two sisters, Mary and Maggie, to Saint Mary's and 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 199 

they lived almost opposite my father. Maggie secured a 
school in Celina, while Mary and Aunty kept house and took 
care of May. Aunt Martha Cowan, or Aunty, as she was 
always called, was a remarkable character. She was the 
sister of the mother of Mary, Maria and Maggie. Their 
father and mother both died within a year, leaving them 
at the tender age of six, four, and two, alone in the world. 
She devoted her whole life to them. She cared for them as 
a mother, saw that they had a good education, and was one 
of the best women I ever knew. She was about sixty years 
of age then, thin and gaunt, with more independence than 
I ever saw in anyone, straight as an arrow in body and 
mind, absolutely fearless, fearing nothing or anybody, and 
I loved her sincerely. When May's mother died, I had given 
May to her sister Mary, and now she had been dead over 
two years. I wanted my child ; yet, if I took her west with 
me, I had no one to care for her, for she was then only five, 
and Mary declared that it would break her heart to give 
her up. We talked the matter over frequently and finally 
concluded there was only one way out of the difficulty, that 
was for us to be married. My leave of absence had about 
expired and I just had time to get back to my post, Ringgold 
Barracks, 64 Texas ; my trunk and grip were on the porch, and 
the hack waiting for me at the gate to take me to the depot, 
when aunt Martha called me to one side and said, "If you and 
Mary are going to get married, I want you to be married at 
once. I am getting old and if anything should happen to 
me you might not be able to get a leave of absence, but if you 
are married now, you can leave her here and she can join 
you when you are ready." I called Mary and my sister Sue 
into consultation and we all agreed that it was the best thing 
to do; accordingly that same evening, the eighth of May, 

64. Ringgold Barracks was located on the left bank of the Rio Grande in Latitude 
26 23' and Longitude 98 47', one-half mile southeast from Rio Grande City, Texas, 
and about five miles north of Camargo, Mexico. It was established October 26, 1848. 
abandoned during the Civil War, and reoccupied in June, 1865. A n 
built in 1869 farther from the river. fUP 

For early description of forts in Texas see Col. J. K. F. flfensfleM 
Inspection of the Department of Texas in 1856," The Southwesterwnislorical Quar- 
terly, XLII, No. 2 (October, 1938). For a recent compilation of data see Joseph H. 
and James R. Toulouse, Pioneer Posts of Texas (San Antonio, Texas: The Naylor 
Company, 1936). 



200 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

1876, we were married in my father's house. It was so 
sudden that we had not time to send for Maggie who, as 
stated, was teaching at Celina, and I immediately left for 
my station and did not see Mary again for fourteen [?] 
months, when she joined me at Ringgold Barracks, bringing 
May with her. She had only been there a month when I was 
ordered to Fort Clark. 65 My troop had preceded me and 
I was ordered with about twenty men, who had been left 
behind, to escort a train of wagons loaded with ordnance 
stores to Fort Clark. I had an ambulance for myself and 
family, and we started on the first day of July [?]. The 
road from Ringgold Barracks to Fort Clark followed up the 
Rio Grande as far as Fort Duncan, 66 through a country as 
desolate as any desert. It wound for miles through immense 
beds of cactus higher than a wagon top and impenetrable to 
anything, except here and there where there was a cattle 
trail. The sand was very deep and traveling slow, and we 
only made twelve or fifteen miles a day. 

I well remember that on the afternoon of the fourth of 
July we arrived at a water hole around which there was no 
brush, but scattered on the sand almost as far as eye could 
reach were thousands of carcasses of sheep. A man had a 
large flock there a short time before when some disease broke 
out among them ; he lost his entire herd, and the dead bodies 
were so close together that a man could almost jump from 
one to another. The water hole was nothing but a pond of 
rain water. We had gotten somewhat in advance of our 
wagons. There was not a particle of shade. The July sun 
beat down on the alkali until it was like an oven, and all 
around the prairie we could see the waves of heat rising. 

65. Fort Clark was established June 20, 1852, in Latitude 29 17' and Longitude 
100 25' forty-miles north of Fort Duncan (or Eagle Pass) on Las Moras creek. It 
was abandoned March 19, 1861, and was reoccupied December 10, 1866. The reserva- 
tion was 3,963 acres. 

A useful background study for the reader of Phelp's Memoirs is Carl Coke Rister, 
The Southwestern Frontier 1865-1881 (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 
1928). 

66. Fort Duncan was established, March 27, 1849, in Latitude 28 42', Longitude 
100 30', across the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras, Mexico. It was abandoned at 
the outbreak of the Civil War and reoccupied, March 23, 1868. The Post of Eagle Pass 
was located on part of the reservation of Fort Duncan. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 201 

There was no odor from the dead sheep for, strange as it 
may seem to those who have never been in this climate, the 
air is so dry that dead animals do not putrefy but simply 
dry up, and though we were surrounded by thousands of 
dead beasts there was not a particle of odor. For the first and 
the last time in her life Mary broke down and cried, saying 
that she did not believe that God intended people to live in 
such a country as that. She was hot, thirsty, and tired ; the 
only water to be had was from that pool and it, of course, 
while clear, was luke warm. However, I had a tent fly in 
the boot of the ambulance, and the driver and I stretched 
it from the top of the ambulance to the ground, making a 
shade. I filled my canteen with water and, being covered 
with several thicknesses of blanket, I wet it thoroughly and 
hung it up in the shade; in a little while the water became 
cool enough to drink. I made her a pitcher of lemonade, not 
with lemons, for they were not to be had in that country at 
any price, but with sugar of lemons, a bottled powder pro- 
vided for that purpose ; the wagon shortly after coming up, 
we had a good supper prepared, and she became more recon- 
ciled. 

We arrived at Fort Mclntosh, 67 near Laredo, Texas, a few 
days after; the night we arrived there, I was taken with 
malarial fever and laid in the hospital for a week, but every 
one was very kind to us and we proceeded on our journey, 
arriving at Fort Clark about the first of August. Fort Clark 
was then, as now, a large post at the head of Las Moras 
creek, on a rocky plateau. It was only intended for eight 
companies and there were then twelve or fifteen stationed 
there. Consequently the officers' quarters were very much 
crowded, and the best I could do was to get three rooms 
over another officer in a story and a half house. Our rooms 
had a sloping ceiling, were small and uncomfortable, but 
Mary soon made them very home-like. Two officers lived 
on the ground floor, one of whom was Captain Thomas J. 

67. Fort Mclntosh was established, March 1, 1849, about one mile from Laredo, 
Texas, in Latitude 27 30' and Longitude 99 29'. The State of Texas ceded jurisdiction 
of the site (208 acres), December 19, 1849. It was abandoned during the Civil War 
and reoccupied, March 8, 1867. 



202 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Wint, 68 4th Cavalry, who afterwards became a Brigadier 
General, and is now dead ; and a Second Lieutenant, a little 
fellow named Murray, 69 now a Colonel of Cavalry and com- 
manding officer at Columbus Barracks. They gave us the 
use of the dining room and kitchen and in return they took 
their meals with us. I had not been there a month when our 
troop was ordered to a place about sixty miles away to cut 
cedar posts, and I was gone over a month, leaving Mary 
alone among strangers at the post ; but one good thing among 
army customs is that the officer and the officer's wife must 
call on another officer's wife, when she comes to the post, 
within forty-eight hours, so that she soon became acquainted 
with everybody at the post and got along very nicely. On 
our return we were immediately ordered with all the rest 
of the Cavalry to Pinto creek, a beautiful little stream six 
miles away, where we could graze horses, thus saving the 
cost of hay ; here we remained until December. 

Sometime in September or October, 1877, I received 
orders to report to Lieutenant John L. Bullis, 70 24th Infan- 
try, who was in command of the Seminole Indian Scouts, 
and to go with him, as we then supposed, to guard a crossing 
of the Rio Grande near the mouth of Las Moras creek. 
Lieutenant Bullis had been in command of these Seminole 
Indian Scouts for two or three years, and had gained a great 
reputation as a scouter and fighter. These Seminole Indians 
were a queerly mixed lot. They were the descendants partly 
of the Seminole Indians who had been removed from Flor- 
ida, sometime in the forty's, to the Indian territory, and then 
had drifted down into Texas. A portion of them were only 
part Seminole, being descendants of negro slaves captured 



68. Theodore Jonathan Wint was born in Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the 
Union Army as a private during the Civil War and advanced to the rank of 1st 
Lieutenant, 6th Pa. Cavalry, July 1, 1864. Mustered out, September 30, 1864, he re- 
enlisted and attained the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, 4th Cavalry, November 24, 1865, 
and rank of Captain, April 21, 1872. 

69. Probably Cunliffe Hall Murray, born in South Carolina. He graduated from 
the United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 4th 
Cavalry, June 15, 1877. 

70. John Lapham Bullis was born in New York. He enlisted in the New York 
Infantry, August 8, 1862, as a corporal and rose to the rank of Captain, August 18, 
1864. Mustered out on February 6, 1866, he re-enlisted as 2nd Lieutenant, September 
8, 1867. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 203 

by the Seminoles who had kept them as slaves and inter- 
married with them. Nearly all had a strain of Mexican 
blood, so that there was a mixture of Indian, Negro, and 
Mexican. Generally a mixture like this produces a vicious 
man, but these men were quite orderly and excellent soldiers. 
They had a little village about three miles below Fort Clark, 
and were constantly employed scouting all over western 
Texas under Bullis. He was a small, wiry man with a black 
mustache, and his face was burned as red as an Indian. He 
was a tireless marcher, thin and spare, and it used to be 
said of him that when he wanted to be luxurious in scouting, 
he took along one can of corn. Of course, this was only said 
in fun, but it was a fact that he and his men could go longer 
on half rations than any body of men that I have ever seen, 
and I had a great deal of experience with them. Besides my- 
self, Lieutenant Maxon and Jones 71 of the 10th Cavalry, 
with a detachment from their regiment which was, and is, 
a colored regiment, also reported to Bullis. We made a night 
march to the mouth of Las Moras and bivouacked under a 
few scattering trees for nearly a week. By this time I began 
to suspect that we were there for some other purpose and 
was not surprised one night, about nine o'clock, when Bullis 
directed us to be ready to march to the Rio Grande, about 
two miles distant. We were directed to leave our pack ani- 
mals behind under guard and to take one day's cooked 
rations. We forded the Rio Grande by moonlight and then 
Bullis informed us that we were to make a dash to the head 
of a creek about twenty or twenty-five miles distant to 
surprise, if possible, a gang of horse and cattle thieves who 
made that their rendezvous. 72 We started at once and trav- 
eled hard all night, galloping and trotting alternately, but the 
twenty miles stretched into thirty ; just at daylight we caught 
sight of a large building looming up, which proved to be our 

TL. Thaddeus Winfield Jones was born in North Carolina. He graduated from 
the United States Military Academy; commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 10th Cavalry, 
June 14, 1872, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, November 20, 1879. 

Mason Marion Maxon was born in Wisconsin. He graduated from the United States 
Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, June 15, 1869, and 1st Lieu- 
tenant, April 24, 1875. 

72. For thieving along the Rio Grande in Texas and Mexico see Frank D. Reeve, 
"The Apache Indians in Texas," The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, L, no. 2 
(October, 1946). Rister, op. cit., and Mansfield, op. cit. 



204 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

destination. This building was in reality an old stone fort, 
evidently built years before by the Spaniards. It was in the 
shape of a triangle, each side being about one hundred feet 
long, and the wall was twelve to fifteen feet high ; there was 
only one door or gate which, unfortunately for us, was on 
the side opposite the direction from which we approached. 
We had just emerged from the brush into the open ground 
when we heard a shrill alarm given, and instantly spreading 
out, we charged at full speed to gain the gate, if possible, 
before anyone could escape. As soon as we had surrounded 
the place, Bullis directed me to take twelve or fifteen men, 
enter the fort and search every building in it for a notorious 
thief and desperado who had long been the terror of the 
frontier. There were about a dozen shacks inside the fort 
and I searched them quickly and thoroughly, but only found 
one man. He was a Mexican, and one of the men pulled him 
out from under the bed by his feet, and he was evidently 
scared almost to death, for he immediately got on his knees 
and begged for mercy. I sent him to Bullis, but he was not 
the man we wanted and he was released. We found plenty of 
women and boys and soon learned that all the men were 
absent on a raid, except the leader, and that as soon as we 
were discovered he had dashed out and made his escape 
into a swamp which came close to the building. Our trip was, 
therefore, a failure and, after resting for an hour, we started 
to return, but fearing that we would be intercepted by the 
hundreds of thieves and desperadoes that infested the river 
on both sides at that time, we struck across the prairie for 
another crossing in the Rio Grande, Hackberry crossing, 
about fifteen miles below where we had crossed the night 
before. To arrive at this point we had to make a circuit to 
avoid passing over the hills on top of which we could have 
been discovered for miles. We marched very rapidly and, 
having had only one meal, and I having had none, for some- 
way or other the lunch I had taken along had bounced out 
of my saddle pocket, we were hungry. About noon I became 
very weak and Doctor Shannon, 73 the surgeon with us, 



73. Probably William Cummings Shannon, born in New Hampshire and appointed 
Assistant Surgeon, June 26, 1875. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 205 

noticing my paleness, rode up beside me, handed me a tin 
cup with a strong whiskey toddy in it and directed me to 
drink it. I told him that I never touched liquor, that the love 
of liquor was hereditary with me and I was afraid to use 
it, but he insisted that I must take it as medicine and finally 
I swallowed it. It certainly braced me up wonderfully and 
I kept my place at head of the column, Bullis having com- 
mand of the rear guard which he supposed to be the point 
of danger, until we arrived within about a mile of the Rio 
Grande. We had kept scouts well in advance; they came 
back and reported that about two or three hundred cattle 
thieves had prepared an ambush on both sides of a narrow 
canyon which we must pass through, and were waiting for 
us. After a moment of consultation, we plunged into a side 
canyon and put our horses on the dead run, knowing that 
the mouth of this canyon would bring us nearly opposite 
Hackberry crossing anyhow. Arriving at the bank of the 
river we did not stop to find the crossing but, lead by Bullis, 
forced our horses over the bank into the swollen river and 
swam our horses across. We had scarcely emerged on the 
other side when a crowd of thieves came hurrying down to 
head us off, but too late. I thought it strange that Bullis did 
not take us at once into the heavy timber which here lined 
the river, where we would be protected, but a glance to the 
right and left brought a broad smile on my face as I dis- 
covered, lying flat on their faces at the edge of the brush, 
about four hundred cavalrymen, all from Fort Clark, under 
the command of Colonel Shafter, 74 and a little to one side 
were two Catling guns carefully concealed behind the brush 
that had been cut off and stuck in the ground, and lying 
along side of the guns, ready for business, were the cannon- 
eers. Shafter had carefully arranged the whole plan and was 
anxiously hoping that these raiders would enter the river 
when he intended, as he told me afterwards, "to wipe them 



74. William Rufus Shafter was born in Michigan. He was commissioned 1st 
Lieutenant, August 22, 1861, in the Union Army, and was mustered out, November 2, 
1886, with the rank of Brevet Brigadier General. He re-enlisted, July 28, 1866, with 
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During the Spanish-American War, Shafter com- 
manded the expedition for the capture of Santiago, Cuba. He retired with the rank 
of Major General, July 1, 1901. The DAB carries his biographical sketch. 



206 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

off the face of the earth," or to open fire on them should 
they attack us without attempting to cross the river. We 
remained in plain sight for perhaps five minutes, but seeing 
that the thieves had no intention of crossing or firing, the 
command was given and all the troops rose to their feet; 
of all the stampedes that I have ever seen, I never saw such 
a one as those thieves made at once. They evidently had no 
idea that there were any troops there but ours, and as far 
as we could see them they were still running. This was 
about three o'clock in the afternoon. I had been in the 
saddle since nine o'clock the night before and, as soon as 
we got a bite to eat, I threw myself down on the gravel 
and never woke up till seven or eight o'clock the next morn- 
ing when the heat of the sun aroused me. We returned to 
our camp at our leisure ; although the trip was not a success 
so far as capturing the men we were after was concerned, 
it taught the thieves that we were watching them closely 
and they gave us very little trouble for a long time after. 
We returned to the Post in December and the next spring 
I again went out into camp. During the winter I had mag- 
nificent quail and duck shooting, and never enjoyed a winter 
more. I used to ride into the Post once a week and stay one 
day, each officer taking his turn. I sent game to my family 
and my friends almost daily, and we caught a great many 
black bass in the creek, so that we lived well. In September 
or October, Lieutenant Bullis, who had gone on a long scout 
to the big bend of the Rio Grande, was caught in a canyon 
by the Indians and severely handled, only getting his men 
out by his skill and courage, but losing several animals and 
all his rations. 

We were still in camp on Pinto creek, the camp being 
commanded by Captain S. B. M. Young, 75 8th Cavalry, now 
Lieutenant General, retired. He took four troops of Cavalry, 
one of them being a colored troop, and we made a forced 
march to Myers springs, about one hundred and fifty miles 
distant, where we met Bullis ; we immediately took his trail 

75. Samuel Baldwin Marks Youngr was born in Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the 
Union Army as a private and was mustered out with the rank of Brevet Brigadier 
General, July 1, 1865. He re-enlisted as 2nd Lieutenant, 12th Infantry, May 11, 1866, 
and was promoted to the rank of Captain, 8th Cavalry, July 28, 1866. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 207 

to the Rio Grande, crossed it and pushed rapidly to the place 
where he had been defeated. We crossed and re-crossed the 
river and finally ascended a high mountain, I suppose one 
thousand feet above the river, where we bivouacked for the 
night on the naked rock. The next morning we descended to 
the Rio Grande again, crossed and got up on the other side ; 
after working hard for twelve or fourteen hours, we had 
not gone more than three or four miles in a narrow line. 
The sides of the mountain were very precipitous ; we passed 
the place where Bullis had been defeated which was a narrow 
ledge not more than ten or twelve feet wide, with a mountain 
towering above and the river hundreds of feet below; how 
he ever got his men out of there, with Indians on both sides, 
was a mystery to us all. In our party we had an Assistant 
Surgeon by the name of Comegys, 76 from Cincinnati. He 
had just joined the army and this was his first scout; he had 
suffered greatly during the day from the intense heat and 
the hard climb, and that evening he asked me where our 
next camp would be. Young was sitting near by and I saw 
him smile when I pointed to a mountain peak perhaps sixty 
miles away, as I knew, and with a perfectly grave face 
informed the doctor that our next camp would be at the foot 
of this peak, and that there was not a drop of water between 
the two. In despair he turned to Young and said to him, 
"Colonel, you may as well bury me right now for I will 
never live to get there." When he heard the roar of laughter 
from the officers around he turned on me and upbraided me 
for playing it on him, but I stuck to it, and the next morning 
when we started we headed toward this mountain, and I can 
see yet the look of despair on his face ; but we had only gone 
a few miles when the Indian trail, which we were following, 
turned abruptly to the left, went down through a canyon 
and brought us out again on the river, and I think he was 
the happiest man in camp that night. The next day we 
pushed rapidly on the trail, made a dry camp, which means 
a camp without water, except what we had in our canteens, 
and about noon the next day arrived at the foot of a range 



76. Edward Tiffin Comeeys was born in Ohio. He enlisted with the rank of 
Assistant Surgeon, June 26, 1875. 



208 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

of mountains known as Mount Carmen, or Red Mountains. 
During the day a blizzard of rain and hail struck us, with a 
high wind, and we suffered greatly from cold. We finally 
managed to find a little spring in a hollow and, with cups 
and knives, dug it out so the water would flow more freely ; 
dipping the water out with our tin cups, we filled our camp 
kettles and watered the animals which took until nearly mid- 
night. As darkness approached, I looked around for a good 
place to sleep where I could be protected from the sleet, if 
possible, for, of course, we carried no tents. I soon found 
a hollow or depression about the size of a grave and perhaps 
four feet deep. This was probably caused by the uprooting 
of a tree, though there were no trees there then. This hole 
was half full of dead leaves from the sage brush, so I threw 
my bundle of blankets in which I had a buffalo robe, and 
around which I had a piece of canvas, into this hole, to 
indicate that I had pre-empted that sleeping place. Soon 
after dark, having completed all my duties, I went to this 
place, spread my canvas on the leaves, on top of this my 
blankets, and then my buffalo robe, with the hairy side upper- 
most. I had a long heavy overcoat with fur gloves and a fur 
cap; getting down and crawling under the blankets, and 
pulling the buffalo robe over my head, I was just congratu- 
lating myself that I had a warm, cozy place to sleep when I 
heard the voice of Lieutenant Guest, 77 of my regiment, who 
had a peculiar habit of talking to himself. 

This was Guest's first scout and he had more than once 
expressed a desire to meet a bear. It was dark as a pocket, 
but I could hear him or feel him kneel down at the edge of 
the hole as he threw down his roll of bedding by my side; 
the next moment he had gotten into the hole himself and, 
just as he touched the fur of the buffalo robe, I turned on 
my face, hunched up my back, and gave a groan as nearly 
as possible to what I thought a bear would make. With one 
wild yell he jumped out of the hole and ran toward where 
the men were sleeping, yelling, "A bear, a bear," at the top 
of his voice, and in a moment I heard the rapid approach 



77. John Guest was born in Pennsylvania. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 
8th Cavalry, August 15, 1876. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 209 

of feet. I could hear the rattle of the breech locks as the 
men loaded their carbines, and I thought it was high time 
to make myself known. So I stood up and called to the men 
that there was no bear there. Poor Guest never heard the 
last of this and in 1888, when our regiment was marching 
from Texas to Dakota, I again met him at old Fort Concho 
after a lapse of several years. The day after we left Fort 
Concho, while I was marching at the head of my troop, 
Guest dropped back by my side and almost immediately I 
heard from the men behind me the old familiar words, "A 
bear, a bear," and I saw his face get scarlet. He said in 
a low tone, "Will T' troop never let up on that damn story." 

I laughed and said to him, "There are only two or three 
of the old men left, Murphy is one of them. He is in the 
first set of twos, and there are one or two old men back of 
him. If I were you I would drop back and shake hands with 
them. They would be glad to see you, and you will never 
hear anything more of it." He dropped back and I heard 
him call out, "Lord, Murphy, hasn't the devil got you yet," 
and Murphy gave a laugh ; as I looked back, I saw them shak- 
ing hands heartily. Murphy fell out with him and, allowing 
the troop to pass, called his attention to the two or three 
old men, all of whom he greeted cordially, and that was the 
last he ever heard of that story. 

The next morning we resumed our march and late in the 
evening we camped on a piece of ground thickly dotted with 
both hot and cold springs. In the hot springs the water 
varied from luke warm to a heat so great that a person could 
scarcely hold his hand in it, while in the cold springs the 
water was cool enough to drink and, as I remember it, there 
were perhaps half a dozen of each in a space of eight or ten 
acres. Of course this was caused merely by two underground 
streams, one of cold water and the other coming up from hot 
springs away below the ground. 

That evening Bullis sent six or seven of his men to follow 
the trail a few miles so that we could gain time in the morn- 
ing. One of these men was sent on top of the mountain 
immediately above us ; just after sunset he came sliding down 
and reported that the Indians had passed around the point 



210 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

of the mountain and were then encamped in a deep ravine 
just on the other side of the mountain, not more than a mile 
away, but four miles around the point by way of their trail. 
Colonel Young at once gave us orders that at daybreak we 
would climb the mountain and attack them from above, forc- 
ing them, if possible, into the open plain where we could 
get a chance. He sent for me and informed me that I would 
be left behind in charge of the camp. To this I strenuously 
objected, calling his attention to the fact that I ranked Lieu- 
tenant Guest, that I thought I should be allowed the choice 
of going or staying, and that I wanted to go. Colonel Young 
and I had had some words in regard to managing the mess 
a few days before, for as usual I had charge of the mess, and 
while this disagreement was purely personal, there had been 
a decided coolness between us; he told me afterwards that 
if he had not feared that I would think that he was taking 
unfair advantage of his being in command, he would have 
insisted that I remain behind, and I have always been sorry 
since that he did not. 

We started up the hill at daybreak, and it was a hard 
climb. The hill was very steep, covered with loose shale and 
gravel, and we had to work our way up by clinging to the 
brush wood that thickly covered it; we had just arrived at 
the flat top when, sitting down to get our breath for a 
moment, we discovered a commotion in the camp. We saw 
the men running out and bringing in the horses from the 
flat where they were grazing; Bullis said that he had seen 
one of his men ride into camp at full speed and it was evi- 
dent that something was wrong. Turning to me Young 
said, "Damn it, Phelps, I wish you had remained in camp, 
for you would know what to do, and I don't suppose Guest 
does ;" then turning to Lieutenant Bullis, he directed him to 
go down and take command of the camp and do what he 
deemed best. It turned out afterwards that the six or seven 
men, who had followed up the trail the night before, had 
discovered some of the Indians' horses just at dark; conceal- 
ing themselves in the rocks, they waited till daybreak when, 
instead of returning at once to our camp with the informa- 
tion, they tried to steal the Indians' horses. An opportunity 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 211 

to steal a horse is one no Indian could ever resist. As they 
approached the horses, the Indians, who had evidently dis- 
covered them also, fired on them, fortunately, or unfortu- 
nately, without hitting any of them, and they immediately 
took refuge in a pile of rocks. There was only six of them 
against twenty or twenty-five Indians, but one of them 
sprang on his pony and went back for help at full speed, 
and that was the man we had seen ride into camp. Had I 
remained in camp, I would, of course, have mounted all the 
men there and gone at full speed to the rescue of these men ; 
we found afterwards that I would have cut the Indians off 
from the ravine and would have driven them straight into 
Young's command. Lieutenant Bullis mounted twenty or 
twenty-five men and hurried around, but the time lost had 
been sufficient for the Indians to start up a canyon. As we 
arrived on the edge of it, crawling up on our hands and 
knees, Young and one or two of the officers, peering over, 
discovered the Indians making their way slowly up the op- 
posite side of the canyon; to me it looked as though they 
we're walking along the side of the cliff like flies, but we 
afterwards found there was a narrow ledge, in some places 
not more than three feet wide, and they arrived at the top 
of the canyon almost at the same moment that we did. My 
troop had been deployed as skirmishers; I had charge of 
the left wing and Captain Wells had charge of the right. 

I discovered four or five Indians with their horses not 
more than one hundred yards distant; apparently they had 
not yet caught sight 'of us and were a little undecided which 
way to go. Raising my rifle, I fired straight at a buck, as 
the warriors are called, and at that distance I fully expected 
to get him, but just as I fired his horse moved slightly for- 
ward and the bullet struck the poor brute instead of the 
Indian. Like a flash they scattered among the rocks ; for ten 
or fifteen minutes we banged away at each other without 
anyone being hurt on either side so far as we could discover. 
We were simply endeavoring to hold them there, for another 
troop had been sent to make a circuit and we had hopes of 
holding them until this troop could come up on their rear. 
I was lying flat behind a rock when I became aware of the 



212 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

fact that one of those Indians seemed to have a pick at me, 
for several of his bullets struck very near me. I finally dis- 
covered him about one hundred yards to my left by seeing 
him raise and lower his arm while loading his rifle. I called 
two of the men near me and, resting our guns on the top 
of a rock, we waited a moment until he should raise to shoot, 
when all three of us fired at him at once. He toppled over 
backward, his gun going over his head, and we heard no 
more of him. 

Just at that moment a bullet struck a piece of rock near 
my left foot, chipped off a piece of it which struck my left 
ankle bone with terrific force ; when I arose to my feet the 
ankle gave way beneath me and I could not walk a step. 
The Indians had rushed down the side of the hill ; the men 
ran to the edge, opened fire on them and, as we afterwards 
found, succeeded in killing four or five. One of these Indians 
was on his pony, for they succeeded in getting part of the 
ponies down the hill. Bending over his saddle, he was going 
at full speed when a bullet struck him in the back, and he 
rolled off. One of the men went down and captured his pony, 
a cream colored one ; tied to the saddle was a complete, beau- 
tifully dressed buckskin suit, fringed with beads and porcu- 
pine quills, the most handsome Indian costume that I have 
ever seen. I immediately offered the man twenty-five dollars 
for it, but he declined to part with it ; when we got back to 
Fort Clark he asked me to send it to his girl for him, which 
I did. By this time my ankle had swollen enormously and 
I was helped on one of the captured ponies, which one of 
the men led back to the camp. I knew the doctor had no 
medicine of any kind, for the mule bearing his medicine 
chest had fallen over a cliff a week before, and I was greatly 
worried about my ankle. They had to cut off the shoe and 
stocking ; ripping up my trousers, the doctors saw that it was 
already swollen to nearly double its usual size and rapidly 
turning purple. One of the hot springs, as I have mentioned, 
was close by and, with my blanket spread beside it, I com- 
pletely immersed my foot and ankle in the hot water ; here I 
remained all night. Possibly nothing better could have been 
done; in the morning the swelling had gone down at least 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 213 

half, and much of the soreness was gone. It was a month 
before I could walk or put on a shoe, but I wore an Indian 
moccasin which one of my men had picked up and had given 
to me. We captured something like twenty-five or thirty 
mules and horses, and afterwards found that the Indian, at 
whom we three had fired, was the chief and that all three 
bullets had struck him squarely in the breast. His gun proved 
to be an old Harpers Ferry musket, model of 1854, with 
brass rings and the stock extending clear to the muzzle. It 
was a smooth bore, carrying a round bullet. The gun was 
loaded, cocked, and capped, but one of the bullets had broken 
the stock, or possibly the fall had broken it, and it was lying 
by his side. The men brought it back to me. I took it back 
to Fort Clark, sent it to the Ordnance Arsenal at San An- 
tonio, had it restocked and it made one of the best single- 
barreled shot guns that I had ever seen ; when I left theiroop 
the men still had it. , <c& 

' r~t*%LS ^^ **J " 

This last skirmish occurred on Thanksgiving Day, 78 
though I doubt if any of us remembered it until evening. 
I had had charge of the mess and knew that our supplies 
were completely exhausted, except for a little sack, perhaps 
four or five pounds, of flour, and one can of apples, which 
I had stowed in my saddle bags on my own saddle a week 
before, intending to give the mess at least something to eat 
on Thanksgiving Day. While lying beside the spring, boiling 
my foot, I called to the soldier who cooked for our mess, gave 
him the flour and the apples and told him to make some apple 
dumplings, but not to tell anybody. We had no baking pow- 
der, so all he could do was to mix up the flour with water, 
put in some sugar and the can of apples, and boil the dump- 



78. "November 1, [1877], near the Rio Grande, Lieutenant Bullis, Twenty-fourth 
Infantry, with a detachment of thirty-seven Seminole scouts, had a fight with a band 
of renegade Apaches and other Indians. Captain S. B. M. Young, Eighth Cavalry, with 
a force of one hundred and sixty-two men, consisting of Troops A and K, Eighth 
Cavalry, and C, Tenth Cavalry, and Lieutenant Bullis' detachment of scouts, after a 
very long pursuit, succeeded in surprising this band of Indians near the Carmen 
Mountains, Mexico, on November 29th. A charge by the troops dispersed the Indians 
in every direction, with a loss of their camp equipage, seventeen horses, six mules, and 
some arms ; one enlisted man was wounded." Record of Engagements with Hostile 
Indians within the Military Division of the Missouri, from 1868 to 1882 (Washington: 
Government Printing Office, 1882), quoted in West Texas Historical Association If ear 
Book, IX, 111 (October, 1933). 



214 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

lings in a kettle. For supper that night we had hard tack 
and coffee only, for our bacon was all gone, but just as the 
officers were about to scatter I told them to wait, and our 
cook produced the dumplings. Well, we ate them, though 
they were as heavy as lead, and every Thanksgiving Day I 
remember the apple dumpling supper that we had that day 
nearly two hundred miles down in old Mexico. 

Among the animals captured, we found several mules 
loaded with dried deer, horse and mule meat, all of which 
was divided equally among the men and officers, but it only 
gave us about two or three ounces each and we started back 
the next day for Myers springs where we had left most of 
our rations. We marched very rapidly and I suffered in- 
tensely with my foot. Finally we arrived at the point where 
we crossed the Rio Grande, and here Colonel Young directed 
me, as Adjutant of the scout, to send two men to Myers 
springs with instructions to Lieutenant Clay, 79 who had 
been left there with a small detachment, to send us rations. 
That same evening we were sitting around a little camp fire 
when Bullis came over and told us that he had found a small 
sack with a few pounds of rice in it which he would give us. 
What he was living on, I don't know, but I have always be- 
lieved that, like his Seminoles, he was living on rattlesnakes, 
for I have time and again seen the Seminoles kill and skin 
rattlesnakes and fry them just the same as fish. I had never 
tried it but once, and that was enough. We put the rice in 
a big kettle, poured on a lot of water and set it on the fire. 
I did not know that rice swelled so, but in a few moments 
it had swelled clear over the top of the kettle, so we concluded 
that it must be done. We had plenty of sugar left and stirred 
in a couple of quarts of brown sugar, then gathered around 
it and each one helped himself. The rice had been slightly 
scorched and made me deathly sick ; it was twenty years be- 
fore I could eat rice again. The next day we marched about 
fifteen miles, the horses being very weak, for there was but 
little grass and, of course, no grain; about dark the two 
men we had sent to Myers springs came into camp with 
three mules loaded with coffee, bacon, and hard tack, a most 



79. Lieutenant Clay is not identifiable in Heitman, Historical Register. . . . 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 215 

welcome sight. The men had a method of cooking the hard 
tack which made it very palatable to a hungry man. Break- 
ing the hard bread into fragments, they put it to soak and 
it soon swelled. They then fried their bacon, poured the 
bacon grease over the hard bread, and mixed a liberal quan- 
tity of brown sugar with it; while it doesn't sound very 
nice, it certainly was very palatable when a keen hunger was 
the sauce. The next day we arrived at our old camp at 
Myers springs. We found Clay had sent us all the rations 
there were, so here we were one hundred and fifty miles 
from the nearest post and the men living on quarter rations, 
while the officers had absolutely none. Jack rabbits were 
very plentiful, so I took my shot gun, which I had left at this 
camp, and killed great numbers of them, which we boiled, 
and I got so sick of rabbit that it was years afterwards before 
I could eat any again. From this point we sent one of the 
Seminoles to Fort Clark with a letter to the commanding 
officer, Colonel Shafter, asking that rations and forage be 
sent to meet us as soon as possible, and two or three days 
afterwards, as soon as we could shoe up the horses, we 
started on our return. 

By this same messenger, Colonel Young sent a short offi- 
cial report of the scout to Colonel Shafter, which I prepared, 
under his direction, on leaves torn from my note book and 
in pencil. I also wrote a note to my wife telling her that I 
was all right, that my ankle was much better and not to 
worry. I endorsed on the back of it a request to Colonel 
Shafter to send it to her, and both were enclosed in an old 
envelope and addressed to the commanding officer of the 
Post. I told the Seminole to make the best speed he possibly 
could and, on arrival, whatever might be the hour, day or 
night, to report immediately to the commanding officer and 
deliver the letter. I also told him to go down to my troop 
barracks, where two or three men had been left, and they 
would take care of him, giving him something to eat and 
care for his horse. I afterwards learned that he arrived at 
the Post about two o'clock in the morning, aroused Colonel 
Shafter from his bed, delivered the letter and then went over 
to my troop barracks. As soon as he came in, the men began 



216 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

to question him about the scout, as not a word had been 
heard from us after leaving Del Rio about two months be- 
fore. The Seminole could talk very little English and per- 
haps understand less, and the men only knew a few words of 
Mexican, which was the language that the Seminoles used. 
He told them, "Heap big fight, muchos Indians killed," which 
was, of course, an exaggeration. They then asked him if any 
soldiers were killed. Not understanding the question but, I 
suppose, believing that it meant if anybody was hurt, he 
said, "Yes, Adjutante," which is the Mexican for Adjutant. 
The men knew that I was Adjutant of the command. They 
were, of course, keenly interested, and asked him if the Adju- 
tant was killed, and again misunderstanding the question, the 
Seminole nodded his head. 

By this time it was daylight. The news that there had 
been a fight and that the Adjutant had been killed was 
quickly communicated to other companies, and by them com- 
municated to servants up along the officers' line, or to use 
an old frontier expression, "the news went up the back porch 
of the officers' line and came down the front." Mary, of 
course, knew nothing of this, as she had not left the house 
at that time. At guard-mount, which took place about eight 
o'clock, it was customary for the officers to sit out on their 
front porches with their families and listen to music of the 
band. Mary took May and started to walk up the line to 
watch guard-mount. She told me afterwards that whereas 
officers would usually spring to their feet as she passed their 
quarters and lift their caps, she noticed that every one of 
them hustled inside, and she wondered why. About half 
way up the line she approached a group of three officers who 
had their backs toward her. One of them was Lieutenant 
Donovan, 80 of the 24th Infantry, who messed with us. As 
she approached, she overheard one of the officers say, "Hush, 
here is Mrs. Phelps, now," and it flashed on her mind in 
a moment that there was some bad news. Walking straight 
up to Mr. Donovan she asked him, "Is there any news of 

80. Edward Donovan was born in Ireland. He enlisted as a private in the Union 
Army during the Civil War and was mustered out with the rank of Captain, July 1. 
1866. He re-enlisted as a Lieutenant and resigned, July 9, 1878. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 217 

the scout/' to which he answered by inclining his head. "Is 
anybody hurt," she asked, and again he inclined his head. 
"Is Mr. Phelps hurt," she demanded. At that question, Mr. 
Donovan stepped by her side and said, "Mrs. Phelps, let me 
take you home." He told me afterwards that quick as a flash 
she straightened up to her full height and, looking him 
squarely tn the eye quietly said, "Mr. Donovan, I am a sol- 
dier's wife, if there is any bad news I want to know it in- 
stantly. Is Mr. Phelps dead?" He replied, "Yes, Mrs. Phelps, 
he was killed on Thanksgiving Day at the head of his troop." 
She turned ghastly white, took his arm, and leading May by 
the hand, she went back to our quarters, bowed to him, en- 
tered the house and closed the door. In about half an hour 
Colonel Shaf ter knocked at the door and she bade him enter. 
Colonel Shaf ter was a large, jovial man and generally spoke 
in a loud tone of voice; in his jovial way, and not noticing 
the tears streaming down her cheeks, he said to her, "Madam, 
allow me to congratulate you." A month later he told me 
that he had not noticed that she had been crying, but that 
she instantly straightened up and, looking him in the face, 
she answered in a cutting tone, "Since when, Colonel Shaf ter, 
has it been the custom of the Army for the commanding offi- 
cer to congratulate the widow?" He was dumbfounded for a 
second, and then blurted out, "If Mr. Phelps is dead, he is 
a mighty lively corpse, for here is a letter from him." Then, 
and I believe the only time in her army service, she fainted, 
and he caught her as she fell to the floor. Laying her gently 
on the carpet, he rushed out of the room into Mrs. Pond's 
quarters, next door, and shouted, "For God's sake come over 
to Mrs. Phelp's house, I have killed her." Mr. Pond 81 ran 
into the house and dashed water in her face ; they lifted her 
on the bed and in a few moments she revived. We had many 
a laugh over this afterwards, but at the time it was serious 
enough. Once afterwards when I was on a scout, Mrs. Wis- 



81. George Enoch Pond was born in Connecticut. He enlisted as a private in 
Company K, 21st Connecticut Infantry, December 9, 1863, and was discharged June 7, 
1865. Graduating from the United States Military Academy, he was commissioned 2nd 
Lieutenant, 8th Cavalry, June 14, 1872. 



218 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

hart, 82 the wife of an officer of the 20th Infantry, whom Mary 
and I cordially detested, rushed up to her on the porch, threw 
her arms around her and said, "Oh, you poor thing, you 
poor dear." Without attempting for a moment to remove 
her arms, Mary cooly asked, "What is the matter," and the 
reply came, "Oh you poor dear, don't you know that your 
husband has been killed." For some reason or other the 
gossips seemed determined to kill me off. Mary quietly un- 
wound her arms and then icily said, "My husband has been 
killed once before. This time I think I will wait for the 
official confirmation." How this second rumor got out, I 
never knew. 

The country was covered with mal pais [bad land] rock, 
evidently of volcanic origin, with keen, sharp, edges, and it 
made the marching very hard. We only made about fifteen 
miles and camped in a small valley with only the water we 
had in our canteens. Before starting on this scout I had 
provided myself with two very large canteens, each made of 
two tin wash basins with the edges placed together and riv- 
eted and soldered. These were covered with four thicknesses 
of woolen blanket, with a broad leather strap to attach to 
the saddle. Each of these canteens held four quarts of 
water ; I made it a point to go without water during the day 
and almost invariably went into camp at night with my can- 
teens full. About four o'clock in the afternoon I went out 
and posted the pickets and had just returned to camp when 
a picket stationed on a hill, about half a mile distant, gave 
the alarm that he saw something by riding rapidly on his 
horse in a circle. I immediately galloped out to him with a 
couple of men, and he told me that he believed he saw wagon 
tops in the distance ; with my glasses, I soon saw the tops of 
four wagons about three miles distant moving along the old 
overland trail which I knew was there somewhere. I im- 
mediately sent one of the men back to Colonel Young with a 
note, and received from him an order to ride out and inter- 
cept them. If they were our wagons to bring them to camp, 

82. Alexander Wishart was born in Pennsylvania. He was a Captain during 
his service in the Union Army, resigning September 10, 1862. He re-enlisted as 2nd 
Lieutenant, 27th Infantry, January 22, 1867, and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, 
October 19, 1867. He was dismissed from the service, January 22, 1881. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 219 

but if, as we suspected, they were civilian wagons carrying 
goods to the upper Post, to take from them such quantities 
of rations as I thought we might need, giving them a receipt 
for the same, on which the Government would pay them. 
I rode out and found that it was our own wagons which 
Colonel Shafter had pushed out with orders to meet us at 
the earliest possible moment regardless of the loss of mules, 
and they had made an average of more than thirty miles a 
day, which is unusually fast marching for six-mule teams. 
Three of the wagons were loaded with corn and oats, the 
other two with rations, and we were a happy lot that night 
in camp. 

In the field our baking was done in a Dutch oven. This 
is a kind of cast iron pot with three legs and a flat iron cover 
with edges turned all around for about two inches. To bake 
bread in this, it is set over a bed of coals ; when thoroughly 
heated, the bread is placed in it, the lid put on and the coals 
are not only heaped all around the pot, but also on top of 
the lid which has an iron ring by which it can be easily 
removed. After a little experience, a cook can bake as good 
bread in one of these Dutch ovens as in a kitchen range. This 
night our cook proceeded to make biscuits for our mess and 
our Dutch oven, being eighteen inches in diameter, made the 
biscuits of enormous size, seven filling it completely, so that 
each biscuit was as large as a bowl. Lieutenant George H. 
Evans, 83 10th Cavalry, and an old friend, was then stationed 
at Del Rio, about thirty miles west from Fort Clark. When 
the wagons passed through there, he gave the wagon master 
a bucket of fresh butter, containing about ten pounds, to give 
me with his compliments. As we had not seen butter for over 
two months, this was very welcome. We broke the biscuits 
open, put in an ample supply of butter, and waited till the 
butter had melted and worked all through the biscuit. Lieu- 
tenant Guest was a heavy eater ; to the best of my recollection, 
he ate this night five or six of these enormous biscuits ; about 
midnight we had to call the doctor, and it was years before 



83. George Howard Evans was born in Pennsylvania. He graduated from the 
United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 10th Cavalry, 
June 14, 1872. 



220 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

he heard the last of this occurrence. Colonel Shaf ter had not 
only sent ample supplies, but the wagon master finally rolled 
out a barrel addressed to Colonel Young, and when we 
opened it the first thing we saw on top was the mail that had 
accumulated at Fort Clark for officers and men ; as we had 
not heard a word from the outside world for two months, 
the letters and papers were very welcome. Mary had heard 
of the wagons going out and had written me a long letter 
so that I was relieved of any anxiety. We proceeded slowly 
to the Pecos, 84 the rain falling continually ; when we arrived 
at the river we crossed at once and went into camp, and that 
was one of the most miserable nights that I ever spent. We 
had no tents, the cold rain fell in sheets all night, and wood 
was very scarce. One of my men discovered an old govern- 
ment ferry boat about half a mile below the crossing ; in a 
short while they had broken the boat up, which was made 
of two-inch pine plank, and we had roaring fires everywhere. 
When we discovered the planks being placed on the fires we 
were suspicious of where they came from, but so far as I 
know no questions were asked, as the ferry boat had never 
been of any use anyhow. I was the Quartermaster and Adju- 
tant of this expedition and the next three days I had as hard 
work as I ever had in my life to get the wagon trains through. 
The road was a rough one at best ; with the heavy rains the 
wheels cut through to the hubs and we could only make ten 
or twelve miles a day. For three days and nights I never 
had my clothes off and was afraid to take off my boots for 
fear that I could never get them on again. Finally we arrived 
at Del Rio and found that Captain Kelley, 85 10th Cavalry, 
stationed at this Post, had prepared tents for all our com- 
mand and had bread and hot coffee ready for the soldiers. 
Lieutenant Hunt, 86 of the 10th Cavalry, a dearly loved class- 



84. The text indicates that they were following the old overland mail route. It 
is probable, therefore, that they crossed the Pecos river just west of Fort Lancaster. 
For a map of the route see Roscoe P. and Margaret B. Conkling, The Butterfield 
Overland Mail 1857-1869. vol. 3 (Glendale, Calif.: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1947). 

85. Joseph Morgan Kelley was born in New York. He joined the Union Army 
during the Civil War and was mustered out, March 4, 1863. He re-enlisted with the 
rank of Lieutenant, March 7, 1867, and attained the rank of Captain, April 15, 1875. 

86. Levi Pettibone Hunt was born in Missouri. He graduated from the United 
States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 10th Cavalry, June 15, 
1870. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, June 30, 1875. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 221 

mate, was stationed there and he invited Geddes Guest and 
myself to stay at his house. He had only four rooms and one 
of these had no floor but the earth, but he had scattered hay 
liberally over the floor and had a number of blankets and 
buffalo robes; when he apologized profusely for not being 
able to afford us better accommodations, we hustled him 
out of the room for, compared to what we had been going 
through, this warm, dry room was heaven. 

The next day we marched to Fort Clark. As we entered 
the Post, we marched along the road in front of the officers' 
quarters, and we were certainly a hard looking lot. As the 
Adjutant, I rode beside Colonel Young at the head of the 
column. I had lost my blouse, the back of my blue shirt (the 
only one I had left) was missing, my long hair reached al- 
most to my shoulders, my beard, untrimmed for three 
months, fell on my breast, and I had on my head a soft 
wool hat, the crown of which was missing entirely and the 
brim had also been torn off at various times to help kindle 
a fire. We marched straight down the line looking neither 
to the right nor left and, as we turned to the right to go 
down in front of the commanding officer's office, I saw, from 
the corner of my eye, Mary and May standing on the porch 
of our quarters. Colonel Young reported to Colonel Shaf ter ; 
we marched the companies to their stables and dismissed 
them then, taking an orderly with me, I trotted up to my 
quarters and found Mary standing on the porch. I dis- 
mounted and said to her, "Hello Old lady." She looked me 
up and down then, turning to the orderly, who was of my 
own troop, and whom, of course, she knew, she coolly said, 
"Orderly, is that my husband?" The grinning orderly 
touched his cap and said, "Yes, mam." "Take him down to 
the creek and wash him," was her unexpected reply, and 
everybody roared with laughter. 

This was one of the hardest trips I ever took and my 
ankle was far from well, but it gradually recovered ; it has 
been weak from that day to this, and has frequently turned 
under me since. 

(To be continued) 



CHECKLIST OF NEW MEXICO PUBLICATIONS 

By WILMA LOY SHELTON 

(Continued) 

State corporation commission. Motor transportation depart- 
ment. 

Created in 1929, amended by session laws of 1947 and 
1949 ; administers the motor carrier act. 

Laws, rules and regulations governing the business of transportation 
by motor vehicles for hire over the public highways of the state of 
New Mexico, as provided in chap. 154, Session laws of 1933; effec- 
tive Sept. 1, 1936. Santa Fe, 1936. 45p. 

Laws, rules and regulations governing the business of transportation 
by motor vehicles for hire over the public highways of the state 
of New Mexico . . . effective Nov. 1, 1937. Santa Fe, 1937. 57p. 

Laws, rules and regulations governing the business of the transporta- 
tion by motor vehicles for hire over the public highways of the 
state of New Mexico, as provided in sections 68-1302 and 68-1378 
incl., New Mexico statutes 1941 annotated; effective Sept. 1, 1943. 
(Santa Fe, 1943) 46p. 

Laws, rules and regulations governing the business of the transporta- 
tion by motor vehicles for hire over the public highways of the 
state of New Mexico . . . effective July 1, 1947 . . . (Las Cruces, 
Citizen print) 1947. 48p. 

Laws, rules and regulations governing the business of the transporta- 
tion by motor vehicles for hire over the public highways of the 
state of New Mexico as provided in sections 68-1301 and 68-1379 
incl., New Mexico statutes 1941 annotated, as amended by session 
laws of 1947 and 1949. . . (Santa Fe, 1949) 48p. 

Rules and regulations governing motor vehicle carriers, effective March 
12, 1929. Santa Fe, (1929) 43p. 

Rules and regulations governing motor vehicle carriers, effective June 
10th, 1933. (Santa Fe, 1933) 47p. 

Rules and regulations to govern the construction and filing of common 
carrier freight tariffs, n.p.n.d. 53p. 

Roster of authorized motor carriers doing business in New Mexico in 
intrastate and interstate commerce. Sept. 1, 1948. 38p. mimeo. 
(The only roster published) 

Rules and regulations governing the transportation of inflammable 
liquids by common and contract carriers; adopted from interstate 
commerce commission motor carrier safety regulations. 13p. 
mimeo. 

222 



CHECKLIST 223 

State corporation commission. Rate department. 

Established in 1912 ; administers railroad, aviation, pipe- 
line, cotton gin, telephone and telegraph laws. 



An act regulating aircraft common carriers within the state of New 
Mexico, together with rules and regulations effective July 1, 1939. 
n.p.n.d. 

An act regulating pipe lines together with rules and regulations pre- 
scribed by State corporation, n.p.n.d. 7p. mimeo. 

The law regulating aircraft common carriers within the state of New 
Mexico; together with rules and regulations effective October 1, 
1949. Prescribed by State corporation commission . . . n.p.n.d. 
lip. mimeo. 

State council of national defense. 

Organized May 10, 1917 as Council of defense under the 
Public defense act passed by the state legislature May 8, 
1917 ; act of 1920 provided for closing up the work of the 
council ; State council of national defense committee ap- 
pointed in 1941. 

Report of the Council of defense of the state of New Mexico. May 10, 

1917 to June 1, 1918. n.p.n.d. 87p. 
Final report of the Council of defense of New Mexico . . . May 10, 

1917 to May 31st, 1920. Santa Fe, New Mexico state record print 

(1920) 140p. 

Air raid wardens. Santa Fe, 1941. 2p. mimeo. 
Air craft warning service. August 20, 1941. (Santa Fe, 1941) (2) p. 

mimeo. 

Auxiliary police force. Santa Fe, 1941. (2) p. mimeo. 
Civilian morale. (Santa Fe, 1942) 8p. 
C. D. S. no. 1 Santa Fe, 1941-42 mimeo. 

A series of press releases. 
Defense order no. 1-2. Santa Fe, 1941 mimeo. 

no. 1 issued with "Emergency fire defense" 

no. 2 issued with "Auxiliary police force" 

Directive no. 1 ... for the guidance of all defense councils . . . Octo- 
ber 15, 1942. (Santa Fe, 1942) (6)p. 

Directory of committees, members, etc. Santa Fe, 1941. 4p. mimeo. 
A directory of the agencies in the state with brief statement of their 

defense program and activities. 



224 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Contents : 

Sec. 1 State military department. Ip. 

Sec. 2 State council of national defense. Ip. 

Sec. 3 Selective service. Ip. 

Sec. 4 Federal agencies, lip. 

Sec. 5 Educational institutions. 5p. 

Sec. 6 Secondary schools. 12p. 

Sec. 7 Civic club. 3p. 

Sec. 8 Chamber of commerce. 3p. 

Emergency fire defense plan to provide adequate protection immedi- 
ately. (Santa Fe, 1941) 4p. mimeo. 

(includes Defense order no. 1) 
Facts about wartime food supply. Santa Fe, 1942. 2p. (C. D. S. no. 145) 

mimeo. 
(Letter) to all state and federal institutions and departments in New 

Mexico, July 9, 1941. (Santa Fe, 1941) (2) p. mimeo. 
Letters to local defense councils concerning statewide blackout, Sept. 

12, 1941, August 8 to Sept. 8, 1941. 8 issues, mimeo. 
Legal booklet for guidance of soldiers and sailors. Pub. by the State 

council of defense of the state of New Mexico. May, 1918. (Albu- 
querque, Albright & Anderson, 1918) 129p. 
(List of members of the State council) July 1, 1914. (Santa Fe, 1941) 

(2) p. mimeo. 

Local defense councils. (Santa Fe, 1941) 2p. mimeo. 

(Manual, compiled by Major Joe McCabe of New Mexico state guard) 
(Santa Fe? 1942?) Iv. 
Loose-leaf ; Reproduced from type-written copy. 

(Manuel on defense in chemical warfare, compiled by Major Joe Mc- 
Cabe of the New Mexico state guard) Santa Fe, 1941. (46) p. 
mimeo. 

New Mexico civilian defense notes, Dec. 21, 1942- Santa Fe, 1942. 
mimeo. Dec. 21, 1942 issue "Preliminary"; proposed to issue this 
publication about every two weeks. 

Organization for civilian defense; control centers, first aid rescue 
parties, fire and police aid, demolition and repairs. Santa Fe, 
(1941) 41p. 

Organization plans for local defense councils under office of civilian 
defense (OEM) (Santa Fe, 1941) 3p. mimeo. 

New Mexico war news; published weekly by the Council of defense; 
ed. by Guthrie Smith, v.l 1-52, July 10th, 1917-July 26, 1918. Santa 
Fe, 1917-1918. 

(Poster) Uncle Sam needs your old aluminum. (Santa Fe, 1941) 1 leaf. 



CHECKLIST 225 

(Release) to all local defense councils, July 7, 1941. (Santa Fe, 1941) 
1 leaf mimeo. 

Report, New Mexico statewide blackout, Sept. 12, 1941. Presented by 
New Mexico state military department. (Santa Fe, 1941) 2, 13, 
(2) 7, (3) 41p. mimeo. 

"Contains annex A, B, and C of which annex B is entitled: 
Organization for civilian defense" 41p. 

Outline for state blackout, state of New Mexico. August 1, 1941. Santa 
Fe, 1,941. 7p. mimeo. 

Scrap conservation program. Dec. 18, 1941. Santa Fe, 1941. 2p. mimeo. 

State council of national defense. Executive committee. Santa Fe, Jan. 
14, 1942. Ip. (CDS no. 68) mimeo. 

State wide defense survey. Jan. 1, 1942. (Santa Fe, 1942) (5), 11, (1), 
5, (1), 12, (8) p. mimeo. 

Summary of organization and activities . . . Santa Fe, 1941. 4p. 
mimeo. 

Training letter no. 1 (Jan. 26, 1942) Santa Fe, 1942. (no. 1, as CDS 
no. 92, 99) 



State fair commission. 

Established in 1913 ; the first fair was held in Albuquer- 
que Oct. 3-8, 1881 ; others have been held annually from 
1881-1916, 1938-date. 

Report to the governor . . . Albuquerque, 1938 

1938 (81)p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

1939 (59) p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 
19,40 63p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

1941 50p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

1942 58p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

1943 64p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

1944 72p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

1945 69p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

1946 93p. (L. H. Harms ( typewritten. 

1947 95p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

1948 95p. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

1949 HOp. (L. H. Harms) typewritten. 

Horse racing . . . Albuquerque, 1938- 

1938 14p. (C. W. Jackson) 

1939 15p. (C. W. Jackson) 

1940 14p. (C. W. Jackson) 



226 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

1941 13p. (C. W. Jackson) 

1942 14p. (C. W. Jackson) 

1943 14p. (C. W. Jackson) 

1944 14p. (C. W. Jackson) 

1945 15p. (C. W. Jackson) 

1946 15p. (C. W. Jackson) 

1947 15p. (J. E. Knott) 

1948 14p. (J. E. Knott) 

1949 14p. (J. E. Knott) 

Premium list of New Mexico exposition and Driving park association; 

second annual fair to be held at the city of Albuquerque, Sept. 

18-23, 1882. Albuquerque, Journal book and job printing office, 

1882. 48p. 

Premium list of the New Mexico exposition and driving park associa- 
tion. Fifth annual fair to be held at the city of Albuquerque, 

Sept. 29 and 30, and Oct. 1 and 2, 1885. Albuquerque, Taylor and 

Hughes printers, 1885. 24p. 
Premium list 31st annual New Mexico state fair. Albuquerque, Oct. 

9-14, 1911. unp. 
Premium list and rules of the New Mexico state fair. Albuquerque, 

1938- 

Oct. 9-16, 1938 180p. 

Sept. 24-Oct. 1, 1939 239p. 

Sept.22-29, 1940 272p. 

Sept. 21-28, 1941 248p. 

Sept. 27-Oct. 4, 1942 228p. 

Sept. 26-Oct. 3, 1943 240p. 

Sept. 24-Oct. 1, 1944 248p. 

Oct. 7-Oct. 14, 1945 240p. 

Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 1946 224p. 

Sept. 28-Oct. 5, 1947 228p. 

Sept. 19-26, 1948 232p. 

Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 1949 256p. 
Premium list of the junior department . . . Albuquerque, 1939-1940. 

1939 32p. 

1940 50p. 

Daily program . . . 1943. 9p. 

New Mexico state fair, Sept. 24-Oct. 1. Albuquerque, 1939. 6p. 

New Mexico state fair, Sept. 22-29, 1940. Albuquerque (1940) (16) p. 

New Mexico state fair, Sept. 27-Oct. 4, 1942. Albuquerque (1942) folder 

New Mexico state fair, Sept. 26-Oct. 3, 1943. Albuquerque (1943) folder 

New Mexico state fair, Sept. 24-Oct. 1, 1944. Albuquerque (1944) folder 

Plate of the New Mexico mile high state fair grounds, n.p.n.d. 

You are invited . . . Albuquerque, 1938. 6p. 



CHECKLIST 227 

State highway commission. 

Established in 1917 ; has charge of the expenditures of 
state road funds, employes, removes and fixes the salary 
of employees, makes rules and regulations governing the 
methods of construction improvement and maintenance 
of highways and bridges and compels compliance with 
the laws. 

Biennial report. Santa Fe, 1918- 

Dec. 1, 1916-Nov. 30, 1918 175p. 5-6 fiscal yrs. (A. French) 

Dec. 1, 1918-Nov. 30, 1920 108p. v.4 7-8 fiscal yrs. (L. A. Gillett) 

Dec. 1, 1921-Nov. 30, 1922 lOlp. 9-10 fiscal yrs. 

Dec. 1, 1922-Dec. 31, 1932 Never published 

Jan. 1, 1933-Dec. 31, 1934 99p. (G. D. Macy) 

Jan. 1, 1935-Dec. 31, 1936 107p. (G. F. Conroy) 

Jan. 1, 1937-Dec. 31, 1938 135p. (G. F. Conroy) 

Jan. 1, 1939-Dec. 31, 1940 113p. (B. G. Dwyre) 

Jan. 1, 1941-Dec. 31, 1942 128p. (B. G. Dwyre) 

Jan. 1, 1943-Dec. 31, 1944 56p. (F. G. Healy) 

Jan. 1, 1944-Jne. 30, 1945 lllp. (M. 0. Howell) mimeo. 

Jan. 1, 1945-Dec. 31, 1946 152p. (B. G. Dwyre) 
Jan. 1, 1947-Dec. 31, 1948 158p. (B. G. Dwyre) 
Future highway requirements of New Mexico; 1940. (Santk^f 1941) 

92p. 

General highway map . . . New Mexico (counties) Prepared by the 
New Mexico state highway department in co-operation with the 
Federal works agency, Public roads administration. (Santa Fe, 
1938) 36 sheets. Complete set of maps for 31 counties; data ob- 
tained from the state-wide highway planning survey. 

New Mexico magazine . . . v.l- Santa Fe, 1923- 
monthly. 

Title varies: v. 1-9 no. 6, 1923-June, 1931 as N. M. highway jour- 
nal; v.9 no. 7-v. 12 no. 10, July, 1931-Oct. 1934 as New Mexico, the 
sunshine state recreational and highway magazine; v. 12-16 no. 1, 
1934-Jan. 1938 New Mexico, the state magazine of national inter- 
est; v. 16 no. 2, Feb. 1938- New Mexico magazine. Up to Jan. 1, 
1934 New Mexico was published under the co-operative auspices 
of several departments and all indebtedness was underwritten by 
the State highway department. Beginning with v. 12 no. 1 Jan. 
1934 this magazine has been published by the State bureau of 
publications created by House bill 38, special sess., llth legisla- 
ture, 1934. 

New Mexico highway journal v. 1-9 no. 6. Santa Fe, New Mexican pub- 
lishing corporation, 1923-July 1931. 9v. . w 



228 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Combined with the New Mexico conservationist to form "New 

Mexico" 
Official road map of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1935. 1 sheet. 

20% x 17 in. folded to 8% x 3% in. 
Official road map of New Mexico, "the sunshine state"; 1936, showing 

U. S. highways and principal state roads, motor patrolled. Santa 

Fe (1936) 1 sheet. 20% x 17 in. folded to 8% x 3% in. 
Official road map of New Mexico, "Land of Enchantment" showing 

U. S. highways and principal state roads motor patrolled. Santa 

Fe, 1937. 1 sheet 20% x 17 in. folded to 8% x 3% in. 
Official 1939 road map of New Mexico; showing the principal state 

roads motor patrolled. (Santa Fe, 1940) 1 sheet 20%xl7 in. 

folded to 8^4x3% in. 

Official road map of New Mexico; showing U. S. highways and princi- 
pal state roads motor patrolled. (Santa Fe, 1940) 1 sheet. 

20% x 16% in. folded to 8^4 x 3% in. 
Official road map of New Mexico, 1941; showing U. S. highways and 

principal state roads, patrolled. Santa Fe, 1941. 1 sheet 20% x 16% 

in. folded to 8% x 3% in. 
Official road map of New Mexico, 1942; showing U. S. highways and 

principal state roads motor patrolled. (Santa Fe, 1942) 1 sheet. 

20 x 16% in. folded to 8% x 3% in. 
Official road map of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1946. 1 sheet 20 x 16% in. 

folded to 8^4x3% in. 
Official road map of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1948. 1 sheet 20 x 16% in. 

folded to 8^4x3% in. 
Official road map of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1949. 1 sheet 20% x 16% 

in. folded to 8% x 3% in. 
Oil processed roads in New Mexico, by W. C. Davidson and E. B. Bail. 

2nd ed., Dec. 1, 1930. (Santa Fe, 1930) 18, (l)p. (Bulletin) 
Road map of New Mexico, 1931. Santa Fe, 1931. Sheet 20% x 17 in. 

folded to 8% x3% in. 
Roads to Cibola; U. S. scenic highways of the southwest . . . Official 

tourist guide of New Mexico; 2nd ed. (Santa Fe, 1934) 68p. 
Roads to Cibola, what to see in New Mexico, and how to get there. 

(Santa Fe) 1931. 32p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico; passed by the eighth legis- 
lature. Santa Fe, 1927. (78) p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico; passed by the ninth legisla- 
ture. Santa Fe, 1929. 144p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 



CHECKLIST 229 

highway commission of New Mexico; passed by the tenth legisla- 
ture. Santa Fe, 1931. 68p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico; passed by the eleventh legis- 
lature. Santa Fe, 1933. 121p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico; passed by the twelfth legis- 
lature. Santa Fe, 1935. 60p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico; passed by the thirteenth leg- 
islature. Santa Fe, (1937). 113p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico ; passed by the fourteenth leg- 
islature. Santa Fe, 1939. 58p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico ; passed by the fifteenth legis- 
lature. Santa Fe (1941) 39p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico; passed by the sixteenth leg- 
islature. Santa Fe, 1943. 44p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico; passed by the seventeenth 
legislature. Santa Fe, 1945. 35p. 

Special road laws and miscellaneous legislation relating to the State 
highway commission of New Mexico ; passed by the eighteenth leg- 
islature. Santa Fe, 1947. 45p. 

Standard specifications for road and bridge construction; ed. of 1944. 
(Santa Fe, 1945). 200, lOp. 

Through New Mexico on the Camino road. (Santa Fe, 1915) (56) p. 
A book of half tones from photographs taken at intervals through- 
out the five hundred miles of highway. 



State inspector of mines. 

Sec. 3 of Act of congress, approved Mr. 3, 1891 for the 
protection of the lives of miners in the territories ; con- 
stitution of the state continued federal mining inspection 
laws (art. 22, sec. 3) 

Annual report 

July 1, 1892-June 30, 1893 v.l submitted but not printed 

July 1, 1893-June 30, 1894 v.2 submitted but not printed 

July 1, 1894-June 30, 1895 35p. v. 3 (J. W. Fleming) 



230 



NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 



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22p. v. 4 
7p. v. 5 
33p. v. 6 
48p. v. 7 
54p. v. 8 
50p. v. 9 
104p. v.10 
80p. v.ll 
79p. v.12 
67p. v.13 
87p. v.14 
48p. v.15 
48p. v.16 
64p. v.17 
73p. v.18 
72p. v.19 
35p. v. 1 
58p. v. 2 
56p. v. 3 
46p. v. 4 
71p. v. 5 
72p. v. 6 
lOlp. v. 7 
74p. v. 8 
34p. v. 9 
65p. v.10 
67p. v.ll 
107p. v.12 
124p. v.13 
63p. v.14 
39p. v.15 
61p. v.16 
50p. v.17 
52p. v.18 
58p. v.19 
38p. v.20 
32p. v.21 
14p. v.22 
20p. v.23 
24p. v.24 
24p. v.25 
22p. v.26 
26p. v.27 
19p. v.28 
21p. v.29 
18p. v.30 



(J. W. Fleming) 
(J. W. Fleming) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(J. E. Sheridan) 
(R. H. Beddow) 
(R. H. Beddow) 
(R. H. Beddow) 
(R. H. Beddow) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(W. W. Risdon) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 
(Warren Bracewell) 



CHECKLIST 231 

Nov. 1, 1941-Oct. 31, 1942 18p. v.31 (Warren Bracewell) 
Nov. 1, 1942-Oct. 31, 1943 20p. v.32 (Warren Bracewell) 
Nov. 1, 1943-Oct. 31, 1944 20p. v.33 (Warren Bracewell) 
Nov. 1, 1944-Oct. 31, 1945 19p. v.34 (Warren Bracewell) 
Nov. 1, 1945-Oct. 31, 1946 17p. v.35 (Warren Bracewell) 
Nov. 1, 1946-Jne. 30, 1947 23p. v.36 (J. A. Garcia) 
July 1, 1947-Jne. 30, 1948 24p. v.37 (J. A. Garcia) 
July 1, 1948-Jne. 30, 1949 27p. v.37* ( J. A. Garcia) 
Title varies: 1894/95-1910/11, Annual report of the U. S. Coal 
mine inspector for the territory of New Mexico; 1st (1911/12) 
Report of the state mine inspector of New Mexico; 2nd-7th 
(1912/13-19,17/18) Annual report of the state mine inspector; 
8th-10th (1918/19-20/21) Annual report of the state inspector of 
mines; llth-21st (1921/22-31/32) State inspector of coal mines; 
22nd- 1932/33- State inspector of mines. 
1895-1909 also in Annual reports of the Interior department. 

Dangers involved in entering old mines. 1 sheet mimeo. 

M-S-A Chemox oxygen breathing apparatus; instructions for use and 
maintenance. 4p. mimeo. 

Mining laws of New Mexico including laws in relation to location and 
operation of metalliferous and coal mines . . . transcribed at the 
office of the Attorney general; pub. by the State inspector of 
. mines, (Silver City, Enterprise print) 1919. 63p. 

Mining laws of New Mexico, providing for the health and safety of 
persons employed in and about mines and including inspection, 
penalties, mine bell signals, etc. (Santa Fe) 1946. 81p. 

Questions and answers, shotfirer's examination. (5) p. mimeo. 

Resultant mine fatalities for New Mexico for a ten-year period. 2p. 
mimeo. 

Rules pertaining to mine safety for underground workmen. 3p. (E&S) 
mimeo. 

Suggestions on safe procedures on the use and handling of explosives 
in mines other than coal in the state of New Mexico. (Albuquer- 
que, 1949) 6, (4) p. mimeo. 



State library extension service. 

Established in 1929 to increase and extend library serv- 
ice to all the citizens of the state, to raise library stand- 
ards and give help to existing libraries. Since 1941 the 
extension service has been under the supervision of the 
State library commission. 



* By decision of State Bureau of Mines the same volume number was used. 



232 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Annual report . . . 1st- Santa Fe, 1930- 

July 1, 1929-June 30, 1930 v.l (Mrs. J. B. Asplund) 

in El Palacio v. 29, no. 12-13 p. 213-222 
July 1, 1930-June 30, 1931 v.2 (Mrs. J. B. Asplund) 

in El Palacio v. 32 nos. 1-2 p. 69-70. 
July 1, 1931-June 30, 1932 v.3 (Mrs. J. B. Asplund) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 1 no. 6 p. 2-7 
July 1, 1932-June 30, 1933 v.4 (Mrs. J. B. Asplund) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 2 no. 5 p. 2-7 
July 1, 1933-June 30, 1934 v. 5 (Mrs. M. C. Datson) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 3 no. 3 p. 2-8 
July 1, 1934-June 30, 1935 v. 6 (Mrs. Esther Cox) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 4 no. 3 p. 2-6 
July 1, 1935-June 30, 1936 v. 7 (Mrs. Esther Cox) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 5 no. 3 p. 2-7 
July 1, 1936-June 30, 1937 v. 8 (Miss Helen Dorman) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 6 no. 3 p. 2-8 
July 1, 1937-June 30, 1938 v. 9 (Helen Dorman) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 7, no. 3 p. 2-12 
July 1, 1938-June 30, 1939 v. 10 (Helen Dorman) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 8 no. 3 p. 2-12 
July 1, 1939-June 30, 1940 v. 11 (Helen Dorman) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 9 no. 3 p. 2-8 
July 1, 1940-June 30, 1941 v. 12 (Mrs. I. S. Peck) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 10 no. 3 p. 5-16 
July 1, 1941-June 30, 1942 (Mrs. I. S. Peck) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 11 no. 3 p. 3-12 
July 1, 1942-June 30, 1943 (Mrs. I. S. Peck) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 12 no. 3 p. 26-40 
July 1, 1943-June 30, 1944 (Mrs. I. S. Peck) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 13 no. 3 p. 26-40 
July 1, 1944-June 30, 1945 (Mrs. I. S. Peck) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 14 no. 3 p. 26-36 
July 1, 1945-June 30, 1946 (Mrs. I. S. Peck) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 15 no. 3 p. 2-16 
July 1, 1946-June 30, 1947 (Mrs. I. S. Peck) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 16 no. 2 p. 2-12 
July 1, 1947-June 30, 1948 (Mrs. I. S. Peck) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 17 no. 3 p. 2-5 
July 1, 1948-June 30, 1949 (Mrs. I. S. Peck) 

in New Mexico library bulletin v. 18 no. 3 p. 2-5 

Includes a brief report of the Museum library and statistics of 

New Mexico libraries. Beginning with 1941/42 the reports are 

for the State library commission and the State library extension 

service. 

New Mexico librarian, v. 1-3 Oct. 1938-Oct. 1941. Santa Fe, 1938-1941. 



CHECKLIST 233 

v. 1 issued Oct. Nov. Jan.-May. 
v. 2 issued Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan.-May. 
8 nos. per volume. 

New Mexico library bulletin v. 1- Jan. 1932- Santa Fe, 1932- 
v. 1 #1-9 monthly Jan. -May, Sept.-Dec. 1932. 
v. 2 #1-7 Jan. -April, Aug. Oct. Dec. 1933. 
v. 3-9 #1-5 Feb. April Aug. Oct. Dec. 1934-1940. 
v. 10 quarterly Jan.-Oct. 1941- 

Library laws of New Mexico, pub. by the New Mexico library associa- 
tion and The Library extension department of the New Mexico 
federation of women's clubs. (Santa Fe, n.d.) (6) p. folder. 

Library laws of New Mexico, pub. by the State library extension 
service. Santa Fe, n.d. (8) p. 

New Mexico state library extension service. Santa Fe, n.d. (4) p. 

Library service for New Mexico . . . (Santa Fe, 1948) 38p. 



State planning board. 

Created in 1935 ; made inquiries, investigations and sur- 
veys concerning natural, economic and human resources 
and proposed plans for the economic and social develop- 
ment of the state; abolished July 1, 1949; replaced by 
N. M. Economic development commission. 

Progress report to National resources board ; S. R. DeBoer, consultant. 

Santa Fe, 1935. 339p. 

Loose leaf. 

On cover : New Mexico planning board. Preliminary report to the 

National resources board, Dec. 15, 1934 and Progress report, Apr. 

15, 1935. mimeo. 

Final report. Santa Fe, 1949. 9p. (V. J. Jaeger) mimeo. 
Capital improvement, workpiles for New Mexico; rev. to July 1, 1946. 

Santa Fe, 1946. lip. mimeo. 

Farm tenancy in New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1937. 48, 22p. typed. 
Health survey of the state of New Mexico, by Carl E. Buck. This report 

of a survey sponsored by the N. M. tuberculosis association is 

published by authority of New Mexico State planning board. 

(Santa Fe, New Mexican publishing corporation, (1935?) 35p. 
Illiteracy in New Mexico, by L. V. Horton and S. R. De Boer. Santa Fe. 

1936. 48p. mimeo. 
Indian lands in New Mexico ... by Leo V. Horton . . . James L. 

Rutledge ... and S. R. DeBoer . . . Santa Fe, 1936. 208p. 

mimeo. 



234 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

New Mexico facts and figures. (Santa Fe) 1948. lOOp. 

Outline of mineral resources of N. M. Santa Fe, n.d. 21p. typed. 

Post-war planning, a manual of simple methods of improving business, 

with jobs and profits after the war, in New Mexico municipalities. 

Prepared by Trent Thomas. (Santa Fe) 1944. 21, 19p. 
The post-war years; a long-range program of capital improvements 

for the state of New Mexico. (Santa Fe) 1943. 276p. 

"Prepared by the staff of the N. M. State planning board . . . 

with the co-operation of Trent Thomas . . . and Frank Donahue" 
Potash production and marketing, by Leo V. Horton. Santa Fe, 1937. 

15, 34p. mimeo. 
Preliminary outlines for a state development plan submitted to State 

planning board and National resources board, by S. R. DeBoer, 

consultant. Santa Fe, 1934. 173p. mimeo. 
Preliminary report of state lands of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1936. 

156p. mimeo. 

Public domain. Santa Fe, n.d. 191p. typed. 

Second progress report . . . Dec. 15, 1935. Santa Fe, 1935. 252p. 
State lands: laws, revenue, management. Santa Fe, 1936. 252, 4p. 

mimeo. 
Tobacco as a new industry for New Mexico, by R. G. Newbourne . . . 

Santa Fe, 1936. 26, 5p. mimeo. 



State police. 

Motor patrol created in 1933 ; in 1935 transferred appro- 
priation and members of Motor Patrol to N. M. State 
police; laws of 1941 repeal parts of the laws of 1935, 
1937, 1939. Provides for supervision, qualifications, ap- 
pointment, promotion, compensation and removal of 
members of state police. 

Report of Motor patrol. 

Aug. 5, 1933-Jan. 1, 1935 v. p. (E. J. House) 
Annual report of state police. 

Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 1939 95p. v. 1 (T. A. Summers) 

Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 1940 66p. v. 2 (T. A. Summers) 
Biennial report 

Jan. 1, 1941-Dec. 31, 1942 69p. (T. A. Summers) 

Jan. 1, 1943-Dec. 31, 1944 92p. (Frank Young) 
Make yourself a safe driver; facts you need to know to get a motor 

vehicle operator's license, issued in the interest of public safety 



CHECKLIST 235 

by the New Mexico state police; rev. and pub. by J. A. Gallegos 

. . . 39p. 
News v. 1 no. 1-2. 
Rules and regulations n.p.n.d. 13p. 

State purchasing agent. 

Created in 1943 for centralized purchasing of supplies 
and materials for all institutions in the state, as well as 
all departments and agencies. 

Rules and regulations governing purchases . . . H. N. McDaniel. 
(Santa Fe, 1943). 6p. mimeo. 

State racing commission. 

Established in 1933 to issue licenses and make rules and 
regulations. 

New Mexico law and rules governing horse racing. 

(Santa Fe) 1938. 80p. xvip. 
New Mexico law and rules governing horse racing. 

(Santa Fe) 1949 56,xvi 

on cover: Rules of racing. 
Annual report of state racing commission. 

1947 lip. v.l (J. E. Knott) 

1948 21p. v.2 (J. E. Knott) 

1949 21, (3) p. v.3 (J. E. Knott) (mimeo.) 
Chart book . . . 1948. n.p.n.d. 33,5p. mimeo. 

State tax commission. 

Established in 1915; superseded the Territorial board 
of equalization ; approves county and municipal budgets ; 
is responsible for assessing all property belonging to or 
leased by railroad, telegraph, telephone and transmission 
lines, values shares of capital stock of banks and trust 
companies, assesses all mineral property, oil and gas 
wells and private car companies, determines and fixes 
values for tax purposes of livestock and grazing lands. 

Biennial report, v.l- Santa Fe, 1916- 

Mar. 15, 1915-Nov. 30, 1916 133p. v. 1 (J. W. Poe) 



236 NEW MEXLCO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Nov. 30, 1916-Nov. 30, 1918 130p. v. 2 (A. W. Pollard) 

Nov. 30, 1918-Nov. 30, 1920 162p. v. 3 (J. E. Saint) 

Nov. 30, 1920-Nov. 30, 1922 118p. v. 4 (J. E. Saint) 

Nov. 30, 1922-Nov. 30, 1924 13p. v. 5 (J. E. Saint) 

Nov. 30, 1924-June 30, 1926 55p. v. 6 (J. E. Owens) 

July 1, 1926-June 30, 1928 156p. v. 7 (Nathan Jaffa) 

July 1, 1928-June 30, 1930 74p. v. 8 (Nathan Jaffa) 

July 1, 1930-June 30, 1932 71p. v. 9 (B. O. Beall) 

July 1, 1932-June 30, 1934 102p. v.10 (B. 0. Beall) 

July 1, 1934-June 30, 1936 93p. v.ll (B. O. Beall) 

July 1, 1936- June 30, 1938 122p. v.12 (P. B. Harris) 

July 1, 1938-June 30, 1940 142p. v.13 (P. B. Harris) 

July 1, 1940-June 30, 1942 220p. v.14 (H. E. Sellers) 

July 1, 1942-June 30, 1944 98p. v.15 (H. E. Sellers) 

July 1, 1944-June 30, 1946 131p. v.16 (H. E. Sellers) 

July 1, 1946-June 30, 1948 127p. v.17 (H. E. Sellers) 
Act creating State tax commission of New Mexico. (Santa Fe) 1915. 
12p. 

Act estableciendo una comision de impuestos del estado de Nuevo 
Mexico. (Santa Fe) 1915. lip. 

Compilation of authorized county tax levies and opinions of the At- 
torney general. Santa Fe, June 9, 1915. 5p. (Frank W. Clancy) 

Federally held lands, the west's greatest problem. Address by Hon. 
O. A. Larrazola, governor of New Mexico, before the U. S. Good 
roads association, Hot Springs, Ark. Souvenir copy, compliments 
of the State tax commission of New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1920. 20p. 

New Mexico revenue and tax code, annotated; 1937 compilation, con- 
taining all of the existing revenue and tax laws of state of New 
Mexico relating to state, counties, municipalities, irrigation, 
drainage and conservancy districts and state institutions; comp. 
and ed. by Henry C. Allen. Denver, Courtright, 1937. 285p. 

New Mexico State tax regulations under the 1933 Income tax act. 
(Santa Fe, 1933) 87p. 

Proceedings. Santa Fe, 

March session 1915 24p. 

Extracts from proceedings 

November session 1915 16p. 

February session 1916 22p. 

July meeting 1916 22p. 

September special meeting 1916 64p. 

October special meeting 1916 13p. 

November special and regular meetings 1916 39p. 

February session 1917 12p. 

March special meeting 1917 6p. 

July 16-17 regular meeting 1917 16p. 



CHECKLIST 237 

Aug. 27-Sept. 1, 3-6 meeting 1917 16p. 

October special session 1917 16p. 

November session 1917 39p. 

December special meeting 1917 8p. 

1918 44p. 

July, 1917-1918 appear in N. M. tax bulletin v. 1 No. 1-5; v. 2 No.l. 
Report of appraisal of mining properties of New Mexico, by J. R. 

Finlay, 1921-22 (Santa Fe, 1923) 154p. 
Supplemental to the fourth biennial report of the State tax commission 

relating to the reassessment of Guadalupe county. (Santa Fe, 
1923) 15p. 

Tourist bureau. 

Created in 1935 as a branch of the State highway depart- 
ment to carry on a national advertising campaign to at- 
tract tourists to the state. 

Annual report 

1936 20p. (Joe Bursey) Mimeo. 

1937 unp. (Joe Bursey) 

1938 14p. (Joe Bursey) 

1939 12p. (Joe Bursey) 

1940 12p. (Joe Bursey) 

1941 unp. (Joe Bursey) 

Battlefields of the conquistadores in New Mexico. (Santa Fe, c!942) 
(12) p. folder. 
Historical map on verso. 

Cattle, corn and cotton, by Margaret Page Hood. (The story of New ^ 
Mexico agriculture) Reprinted from New Mexico magazine; pre- 
sented with the compliments of the New Mexico State tourist bu- - 
reau. Santa Fe, c!946. 4p. 

Coronado cuarto centennial, 1540-1940; New Mexico, "land of enchant- 
ment" (Santa Fe, 1940) (28) p. (Descriptive booklet) 

Coronado cuarto centennial; New Mexico, 1940. (8) p. folder. 

Facts about New Mexico, n.p.n.d. 4p. mimeo. 

"The first Americans"; Indians of New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1939) 20p. 

"The first Americans"; Indians of New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1935) 
(36) p. folder. 

Historical trails through New Mexico, the land of enchantment. (Santa 
Fe, 1940) (12)p. folder 22x 17 in. folded to 8% x 3% in. Historical 
map on verso. 

List of New Mexico Dude ranches and resorts. Santa Fe, 1947. 8p. 
mimeo. 



238 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Mission churches of New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1935) (40) p. 
Mission churches of New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1939) (40) p. 
New Mexico, the land of enchantment. (Santa Fe, 1941) 32p. 
New Mexico, the land of enchantment. Santa Fe, 1942. 32p. 
New Mexico, the land of enchantment. (Santa Fe, 1947) 32p. 
New Mexico, the land of enchantment. (Santa Fe, 1948) (32) p. 
New Mexico cookery; issued by State land office. (Santa Fe) 1916. 

38p. mimeo. copies courtesy of N. M. state tourist bureau. 
Official insignia. . .of the state of New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1940) (4) p. 
Official insignia. . .of the state of New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1941) (4) p. 
Official insignia. . .of the state of New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1947) (4) p. 
Official insignia. . .of the state of New Mexico. (Santa Fe, 1948) (4)p. 

Recreational map of New Mexico; the land of enchantment. (Santa Fe, 
1941) (12) p. folder map on verso. 

Recreational map of New Mexico; the land of enchantment. (Santa Fe, 

1947) (12) p. folder map on verso. 

Recreational map of New Mexico; the land of enchantment. (Santa Fe, 

1948) (12) p. folder map on verso. 

Recreational map of New Mexico; the land of enchantment. (Santa Fe, 

1949) (12) p. folder map on verso. 

Two Weeks in New Mexico, "land of enchantment". (Santa Fe, 1935) 
29, (3)p. 

Two Weeks in New Mexico, "land of enchantment". (Santa Fe, 1936) 
29, (3) p. 

Two Weeks in New Mexico, "land of enchantment". (Santa Fe, 1938) 
32p. 

Two Weeks in New Mexico, "land of enchantment". (Santa Fe, 1939) 
29, (3))p. 

Welcome to the land of enchantment. (Santa Fe, 1937) (16) p. folder. 

You can choose your climate, by Cleve Hallenbeck (The story of New 
Mexico's weather) Reprinted from New Mexico Magazine; printed 
for free distribution by New Mexico State Tourist Bureau. 
(Santa Fe, c!946) (4) p. 

Traveling auditor. 

Offices of Traveling- auditor & Bank examiner were Es- 
tablished in 1903 ; separated in 1915 ; duties and powers 
of traveling auditor were transferred to the Comptroller 
in 1923. 



CHECKLIST 239 

Report 

1903-Nov. 30, 1904 35p. (C. V. Safford) 

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 36th Legislative assembly 

Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit "N" 35p. 
1905-Nov. 30, 1906 9p. (C. V. Safford) 

in Message of H. J. Hagerman to the 37th Legislative assembly 

Jan. 21, 1907. 9p. Exhibit 3. ' 
July 1, 1909-June30, 1910 21p. (C. V. Safford) 
Dec. 1, 1911-Dec. 31, 1912 82p. (Howell Earnest) 
Dec. 1, 1912-Dec. 31, 1913 114p. (Howell Earnest) 
Apr. 1, 1915-Nov. 30, 1916 94p. (A. G. Whittier) 

in Report of auditor 1915-16 p. 41-94 
Dec. 1, 1916-Nov. 30, 1918 123p. (A. G. Whittier) 

in Biennial report of State auditor 1917-18 p.41-123 
Title varies: 1909-13 Report of the Traveling auditor and bank 

examiner. 

For publications of Bank examiner after 1914 see State bank 
examiner Rules and regulations; circular letters and prescribed 
forms Santa Fe, 1919. 103p. 



Treasurer's office. 

Established in 1846 ; receives and keeps all money of the 
state, disburses the money upon warrants signed by the 
auditor, keeps an account of all money received and ex- 
pended. 

Report 

May 10, 1851-Dec. 1, 1851 

in Journal of the House 1851/52 p.233-35. 
Dec. 1, 1852-Nov. 21, 1853. (Charles Blumner) 

in Diario del Consejo legislative 1853/54 p.243-250. 
Nov. 15, 1854-Nov. 15, 1855 

in Diario del consejo 1854/55 p.187. 
Nov. 15, 1855-Nov. 15, 1856 (E. T. Clark) 

in Journal of the Council 1856/57 p.75-91. 
Nov. 15, 1856-Nov. 15, 1857 (Charles Blumner) 

in Journal of the House 1857/58 p.112-113. 
Nov. 15, 1858-Nov. 15, 1859 (Charles Blumner) 

in Journal of the House 1859/60 p.30-41. 
Nov. 15, 1859-Nov. 15, 1860 (Charles Blumner) 

in Journal of the House 1860/61 p.21-33. 
Nov. 16, 1860-Nov. 15, 1861 (Charles Blumner) 

in Journal of the House 1861/62 p.37-51. 
Nov. 16, 1861-Nov. 15, 1862 (Charles Blumner) 

in Journal of the House 1862/63 p.52-68. 



240 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Nov. 16, 1862-Nov. 15, 1863 (Wm. Osterton) 

in Journal of the House 1863/64 p.41-52. 
Nov. 16, 1863-Nov. 15, 1864 (A. Sandoval) 

in Journal of the House 1864/65 p.49-63. 
Nov. 16, 1864-Nov. 15, 1865 (J. M. Gallegos) 

in Journal of the House 1865/66 p.357-65; Journal of Legis- 
lative council 1864/65 p.49-63. 
Feb. 21, 1882-Dec. 31, 1883 (A. Ortiz y Salazar) 

in Official reports, 1882/83 p.17-27. 

1884 1885 

Dec. 3, 1886-Dec. 15, 1888 41p. (A. Ortiz y Salazar) 
Dec. 4, 1890-Dec. 5, 1892 43p. (R. J. Palen) 
Dec. 5, 1892-Dec. 1, 1894 25p. (R. J. Palen) 
Dec. 3, 1894-Nov. 28, 1896 16p. (45-47 fis. yr.) (Samuel El- 

dodt) 
Nov. 30, 1896-Dec. 3, 1898 23p. (47-49 fis. yr.) (Samuel El- 

dodt) 

also in Message of M. A. Otero to the 33d legislative assembly. 

Jan. 16, 1899. "Exhibit B." p.92-108. 
Dec. 3, 1898-Dec. 1, 1900 41p. (50-51 fis yr.) (J. H. Vaughn) 

also in Message of M. A. Otero to the 34th legislative assembly. 

Jan. 21, 1901. Exhibit "A" 58p. 
Dec. 1, 1900-Nov. 30, 1902 36p. (52-53 fis. yr.) (J. H. Vaughn) 

also in Message of M. A. Otero to the 35th legislative assembly. 

Jan. 19, 1903. "Exhibit A" 36p. 
Dec. 1, 1902-Nov. 30, 1904 60p. (54-55 fis. yr.) (J. H. Vaughn) 

also in Message of M. A. Otero to the 36th legislative assembly. 

Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit "A" 60p. 
Dec. 1, 1904-Nov. 30, 1906 71p. (56-57 fis. yr.) (J. H. Vaughn) 

also in Message of H. J. Hagerman to the 37th legislative 

assembly. 

Jan. 21, 1907. Exhibit 1. 71p. 

Dec. 1, 1906-Nov. 30, 1908 62p. (58-59, fis. yr.) (J. H. Vaughn) 
Dec. 1, 1908-Nov. 30, 1911 8p. (60-62 fis. yr.) (R. J. Palen) 
Dec. 1, 1908-Nov. 30, 1911 23p. (60-62 fis. yr.) (O. N. Marron) 
Dec. 1, 1911-Nov. 30, 1912 20p. (63d fis. yr.) (O. N. Marron) 
Dec. 1, 1912-Nov. 30, 1914 46p. ( 1-2 fis. yr.) (O. N. Marron) 
Dec. 1, 1914-Nov. 30, 1916 ( 3-4 fis. yr.) (0. N. Marron) 

Dec. 1, 1916-Nov. 30, 1918 34p. ( 5-6 fis. yr.) (H. L. Hall) 
Dec. 1, 1918-Nov. 30, 1920 22p. ( 7-8 fis. yr.) (C. V. Strong) 
Dec. 1, 1920-Nov. 30, 1922 20p. ( 9-10 fis. yr.) (O. A. Matson) 
Nov. 30, 1922-Nov. 30, 1924 22p. (11-12 fis. yr.) (W.R.Graham) 
Nov. 30, 1924-July 1, 1926 20p. (13-14 fis. yr.) (W.R.Graham) 
July 1, 1926-June30, 1928 46p. (15-16 fis. yr.) (W.R.Graham) 
July 1, 1928-June30, 1930 53p. (17-18 fis. yr.) (Emer. Watts) 
July 1, 1930-June30, 1932 95p. (19-20 fis. yr.) (W.R.Graham) 



CHECKLIST 241 

July 1, 1932-June30, 1934 73p. (21-22 fis. yr.) (C.P.Anderson) 
July 1, 1934-June 30, 1936 81p. (23-24 fis. yr.) (J. J. Connelly) 



July 
July 
July 
July 
July 



1936-June 30, 1938 ( J. J. Connelly) 

1938-June 30, 1940 86p. (27-28 fis. yr.) (Rex French) 

1940-June30, 1942 90p. (29-30 fis. yr.) (Rex French) 

1942-June30, 1944 94p. (31-32 fis. yr.) (Guy Shepard) 

1944-June30, 1946 91p. (33-34 fis. yr.) (Guy Shepard) 



July 1, 1946-June30, 1948 53p. (35-36 fis. yr.) (H. R. Rodgers) 
Title varies: 

1852-Dec. 1, 1900. Report of the territorial treasurer; 
1901-Nov. 30, 1908. Report of the treasurer of the territory; 
1908-Nov. 30, 1911. Report of the territorial treasurer; 
1912-Nov. 30, 1920. Report of the state treasurer; 
Dec. 1, 1920. Biennial report of the state treasurer. 
Reports for the 15-16; 17-18 fiscal years are separate reports 

bound together. 

Bonded debt as of June 30th, 1935. (Santa Fe, 1935) (4) p. (mimeo) 
Informe del tesorero territorial desde Diciembre 5 de 1892 a Diciembre 
1 de 1894. Santa Fe, N. M.: Compania impresora del Nuevo 
Mexicano, 1894. 25p. 

Informe del tesorero territorial desde Diciembre 30, 1896, Hasta 
Diciembre 3, 1898. Santa Fe, Compania impresora del Nuevo 
Mexicano, 1899. 21p. 

Informe del tesorero territorio. J. H. Vaughn desde Diciembre 3, 
1898, Hasta Diciembre 1, 1900. Santa Fe, Compania impresora 
del Nuevo Mexicano. 



(To be continued) 






Notes and Documents 

The minutes of the Historical Society of New Mexico that 
record the organization of the Society have been printed in 
the NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XVIII, 252ff . 

The Circular printed below was no doubt a solicitation 
for membership, and a copy was sent to Dr. Micheal Steck, 
in southern New Mexico, where he was serving as Agent 
for the Apache Indians. 

The original of the Circular is in the Steck Papers, Uni- 
versity of New Mexico. It is printed, but the signature of 
Sloan is in script, and the name of Steck is signed in the 
same handwriting. 

CIRCULAR 

Santa Fe, New Mexico 

December SO, 1859 
Sir, 

It gives me pleasure to announce to you, that on the 26th 
inst. a number of gentlemen residing in Santa Fe, formed an associa- 
tion, called "THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEW MEXICO." 

Its object, quoted from the Constitution then adopted, is "the col- 
lection and preservation, under its own care and direction, of all 
historical facts, manuscripts, documents, records and memoirs, rela- 
tive to the history of this Territory; 1 Indian antiquities and curiosities; 
geographical maps and information, 2 and objects of Natural History." 

The Society commences its investigations in this vast and compre- 
hensive field, under the most favorable auspices. It does not contemplate 
a sphere of operations, confined to Santa Fe, but one embracing the 
extreme limits of the Territory and Gadsden Purchase; sufficiently 
extensive and varied, to ex[c]ite the best efforts of all active resident 
explorers, and the hopes and encouragement of the friends of science, in 
every part of the Union. 

There will be no halting in this work, if those devoted to science, 
and the development of the resources of this Territory, unite with us. 
Your co-operation therefore, is earnestly desired. Applications for 
membership, may be made, in writing, at any regular meeting, recom- 
mended by two members. Upon election, five dollars must be paid to 
the Treasurer, and thereafter, a monthly sum of one dollar as the 
society is at present organized, to carry out its objects. 

1. There is a slight difference in the wording of this quotation from that in the 
original constitution as printed in the NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XVIII, 255f ; 
the constitution reads : "relating to this Territory. . . ." 

2. The constitution reads : "and curiosities, geographical maps and information, 
geological . . ." 

242 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 243 

A copy of the Constitution and Py-Laws will be transmitted to you, 
as soon as printed ; but an immediate answer is respectfully requested, 
with your views in reference to this important movement. 

Dr. Steck Very respectfully 

Las Cruces your obedient Servant, 

WM. J. SLOAN 
Cor. Secry. 



When I first came to Sierra County in 1908 and the stage-driver 
pointed out to me, at the crossing of Jaralosa Creek, a handsome range 
of mountains which he said were known as the Sibley Mountains, it 
was informative but not impressive. To me, a newcomer from New 
York, the name meant nothing. For that matter it meant very little to 
the stage-driver. He did not know why they were called the Sibley 
Mountains. 

I did not find out why until 1928. By that time I had studied New 
Mexican history and I knew that Henry Sibley, commander of the 
Texas Volunteer Cavalry which invaded the Territory in 1862, had 
fought a victorious skirmish, sometimes called battle, at Valverde, had 
gone on to Santa Fe, had been defeated at Glorieta, and had then re- 
treated south, to be afterwards indicted by a federal grand jury in 
Santa Fe as a traitor, in fact the great and leading traitor in these 
parts during the Civil War. 

In 1928 I met John Snyder, then around 90 years of age. I was 
introduced to him by his nephew Marcus Snyder, of Texas. John 
Snyder's daughter, I understand, was postmistress of Clayton, New 
Mexico, during the first years of our Statehood. 

John Snyder told me that he had been in the commissary train of 
General Sibley when first he invaded New Mexico. He was left behind 
with the detachment in charge of securing subsistence for the Texas 
Volunteer Cavalry, at Mesilla. Communications in those days were by 
despatch. The commissary at Mesilla was sadly disappointed when it 
heard of Sibley's defeat. However, Sibley was a man of great courage, 
unwilling to admit defeat, and he advised the Mesilla detachment to 
meet him this side [north] of the ford near Rincon, as he, the general, 
had decided to invade California via Tucson, a town which was sup- 
posed to be sympathetic with the south, and in the extreme western 
part of what was then the federal territory of New Mexico but had 
been declared to be the Confederate Territory of Arizona by Sibley's 
decree. 

But when the commissary in Mesilla received the message from 
Sibley the news had already reached Mesilla that the California Col- 
umn had occupied Tucson and was then on the march east. John 
Snyder was sent north to meet the Sibley remnants. He met them at 
their camp on what is now called Jaralosa Creek at the foot of the 



244 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

range named after Sibley. The message which John Snyder brought 
caused Sibley to turn east towards Mesilla and then to El Paso. 

I have read all the accounts of Sibley's retreat that were available 
to me, but none of them contained the story John Snyder told me. 
Hillsboro, New Mexico EDWARD D. TITTMANN 



SOME ORIGINAL NEW MEXICO DOCUMENTS 
IN CALIFORNIA LIBRARIES* 

With the aid of a "minor scholarship" tendered by the 
New Mexico Historical Society I had the privilege, during 
January, 1950, of examining certain files in the Ritch Collec- 
tion of the Huntington Library at San Marino, and the 
Bancroft Collection at the University of California at Ber- 
keley. The most generous and courteous helpfulness shown 
me by Mary Isabel Fry, Registrar, and Haydee Noya, Cura- 
tor of Manuscripts, at the Huntington, was matched by that 
of Drs. Bolton and Hammond and the manuscript curator, 
Mrs. McLeod, at the Bancroft. At the Old Mission of Santa 
Barbara the archivist, Fr. Maynard Geiger, O.F.M., showed 
me a handful of New Mexico originals which he at my re- 
quest had photostated and forwarded to the Museum in 
Santa Fe. 

Because of my limited time, I confined myself to original 
Spanish manuscripts of the long Spanish and brief Mexican 
period of New Mexican history; that is, documents which 
many years ago strayed away from the Spanish Archives of 
New Mexico in Santa Fe. Of course, I kept an eye open for 
any other written or printed matter relating to the same 
place and period. Of all these I made comprehensive notes 
from which the following lists are taken. Fr. A. C. 

I. HUNTINGTON LIBRARY, RITCH COLLECTION 
Mr. Ritch's collection consists of: 1) a few Spanish Ar- 
chives originals interspersed among typewritten or manu- 
script translations of other documents still extant in Santa 
Fe (Boxes 1 to 4) ; 2) a very large number of boxes filled 
with original documents and copies relating to the New 
Mexico American Period from 1846 to the close of the cen- 



* Prepared for publication by Fr. Angelico Chavez, O.F.M., Pena Blanca, New 
Mexico. 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 245 

tury; 3) memorandum books and tablets filled with his own 
historical jottings as well as clippings from contemporary 
newspapers; 4) a manuscript biography of Padre Martinez 
of Taos and other papers on the same subject. 

The following are the Spanish originals in the first four 
boxes. 

1681. Sept. 18. San Lorenzo. Sargento Mayor Luis Granillo to Gov- 
ernor Otermin requesting improvement of the refugees' living 
conditions. (2ff. 37-38.) (Box 1, no. 7.) 

1681-1682. Otermin Campaign. Nov. 5, 1681-Jan. 1, 1682. Incomplete, 
(ff. 2-66) (Box 1, no. 12.) 

1689. April 12. Conde de Galve to Santa Fe Cabildo at el Paso del Rio. 
(1 f.) (Box 1, no. 17.) 

1693-1694. De Vargas, Autos de Guerra, Dec. 17, 1693-Jan. 5, 1694. 
(88ff. ff. 87-130.) (Box 1, no. 25.) 

1694. De Vargas, Autos de Guerra, Sept. 3-Oct. 8, 1694. (95ff., ff. 
1-55.) (Box 1, no. 30.) 

1697. De Vargas, Certificate to Jose Trujillo for excellent military 
service. Santa Fe, Aug. 28, 1697. (If) (Box 2, no. 35.) 

1704. May 29. Duke of Alburquerque to Santa Fe Cabildo. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 38.) 

1705. April 28. Conveyance of slave girl from De Vargas estate. Juan 
Paez Hurtado to Antonio Valverde y Cosio. (2ff.) 

(Box 2,jw>. 39.) 

1705. October 6. Gov. Cuervo, certificate to Jose Trujillo for military 
service in Navajo Campaign. (If.) (Box 2, no. 41.) 

[17 ] Dec. 26. Memoria (unsigned) to Petronila Gongora for sale of 
house. (A small piece of paper.) (Box 2, no. 2164.) 

1706. July 11. Capt. Jose Trujillo appointed substitute Alcalde of 
Pecos and Galisteo by Juan de Ulibarri in latter 's absence. (2ff.) 

(Box 2, no. 42.) 

1707. June 28. Mexico. Duke of Alburquerque. Resolutions concerning 
the policies of Governor Cuervo. (4ff.) (Box 2, no. 44.) 

1708. July 7. Mexico. Duke of Alburquerque. Concerning poverty of the 
"Poblacion de Santa Maria de Grado." (If.) (Box 2, no. 45.) 

1709. March 24. Santa Fe. Governor Penuela. Appointment of someone 
as Alferez in place of Ambrosio Fresqui, very sick. (Fragment.) 

(Box 2, no. 46.) 

1709. May 7. Appointment of Jose Trujillo as Alcalde of Santa Cruz. 
(If.) (Box 2, no. 47.) 

1709-1710. Santa Fe. Testimonial of expenses in the reconstruction of 
the Chapel of San Miguel. (7ff.) (This document was fully 



246 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

treated by George Kubler in his monograph: The Rebuilding 
of San Miguel at Santa Fe in 1710, Colorado Springs, 1939.) 

(Box 2, no. 48.) 

1712. Dec. 22. Appointment of Jose Trujillo as Alferez. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 49.) 

1713. Aug. 31. Certification of Jose Trujillo's service in three wars. 
(If.) (Box 2, no. 50.) 

1714. Nov. 12. Appointment of Jose Trujillo as temporary Alcalde of 
Santa Cruz. (If.) (Box 2, no. 53.) 

1717. April 5. Mexico. Decree repealing a previous order concerning 
presidios in New Mexico. (2ff.) (Box 2, no. 56.) 

1717. Aug. 16. Santa Fe. Proclamation by Antonio Valverde y Cosio of 
Viceroy's orders that Indians be taught Spanish. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 57.) 

1737. Aug. 17. Santa Fe. Edict forbidding certain exports from New 
Mexico. (Broadside.) (Box 2, no. 58.) 

1748. April 25. Gov. Codallos y Rabal. Report concerning thirty-three 
Frenchmen (no names) who arrived at a place forty leagues 
from Taos and left after selling fire-arms to Indians. (2ff.) 

(Box 2, no. 60.) 

1789. Aug. 21. Santa Fe. Gov. de la Concha proclaims general visita- 
tion of the Province. (2ff.) (Box 2, no. 62) 

1789. Sept. 11-Dec. 9. Report by Concha of general Visitation. Census 
of Pueblos. Census and names of residents of Santa Fe. (68ff.) 

(Box 2, no. 40.) 

1789. Sept. 11. Inventory of Taos Mission by Fray Gabriel de Lago. 

(2ff.) (Box 2, no. 51.) 

1789. Sept. 12. Inventory of Picuries Mission by the same. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 335.) 
1789. Sept. 13. Inventory of Santa Cruz Mission by Fray Jose Carral. 

(If.) (Box 2, no. 1834.) 

1789. Sept. 13. Inventory of San Juan Mission by Fray Santiago 

Fernandez de Sierra. (If.) (Box 2, no. 337.) 

1789. Sept. 14. Inventory of San Ildefonso Mission by Fray Ramon 

Antonio Gonzales. (If.) (Box 2, no. 1836.) 

1789. Sept. 14. Inventory of Pojoaque Mission by the same. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 1837.) 
1789. Sept. 14. Inventory of Abiquiu Mission by Fray Jose de la Prada. 

(If.) (Box 2, no. 1835.) 

1789. Inventory of Nambe Mission by Fray Ramon Antonio Gonzales. 

(If.) (Box 2, no. 1838.) 

1789. Sept. 15. Inventory of Santa Clara Mission by Fray Diego Munoz 
Jurado. (If.) (Box 2, no. 1839.) 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 247 

1789. Inventory of San Felipe Mission by Fray Antonio Caballero 
(2ff.) (Box 2, no. 1841.) 

1789. Inventory of Santo Domingo Mission by the same. (2ff.) 

(Box 2, no. 1842.) 
1789. Inventory of Cochiti Mission by the same. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 1840.) 
1789. Inventory of Jemez Mission by Fray Jose Vilchez. (If.) 

(Box 2, No. 1843.) 

1789. Inventory of Zia Mission by the same. (If.) (Box 2, no. 1844.) 
1789, Inventory of Santa Ana Mission by the same. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 1845.) 
1789. Inventory of Sandia Mission by Fray Ambrosio Guerra. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 1846.) 
1789. Inventory of Isleta Mission by Fray Cayetano Bernal. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 1848.) 

1789. Inventory of Albuquerque Mission by Fray Ambrosio Guerra. 

(If.) (Box 2, no. 1847.) 

1789. Inventory of Laguna Mission by Fray Jose Mariano Rosete. 

(If.) (Box 2, no. 1849.) 

1789. Inventory of Acoma Mission by the same. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 1850.) 

1789. Inventory of Zuni Mission by the same. (If.) (Box 2, no. 1851.) 

1789. Inventory of Pecos Mission by Fray Francisco Martin Bueno. 

(If.) (Box 2, no. 1852.) 

1789. Inventory of Tesuque Mission by the same. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 1853.) 

1789. Inventory of Santa Fe by the same. (If.) (Box 2, no. 1854.) 

1789. Inventory of Real de San Lorenzo by Fray Esteban Aumatell. 

(If.) (Box 2, no. 1856.) 

1789. Inventory of Guadalupe del Paso by Fray Rafael Benavides. 

(2ff.) (Box 2, no. 1855.) 

1789. Inventory of Isleta (el Paso) by Fray Antonio Campos. (If.) 

(Box 2, no. 1857.) 

1789. Inventory of Socorro Mission (el Paso) by Fray Francisco 
Duenas. (If.) (Box 2, no. 1858.) 

1810. Dec. 31. General Census of New Mexico Mission by Fr. Pereyro. 
(If.) (Box 3, no. 68.) 

1812. July 24. Inventory of goods in possession of several American 
traders in New Mexico. (4ff.) (Box 3, no. 69.) 

1815-1819. (May 10; Sept. 6.) Larraniaga's record of vaccinations 
giving names of children and father of each child. (40pp.) 

(Box 3, no. 70.) 



248 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

1837. Sept. Santa Fe. Inventory of the goods of Santiago Abreu, killed 
by rebel Indians. By order of Jefe Politico, Jose Gonzales. 

(Box 4, no. 164.) 

II. BANCROFT LIBRARY 

The following Spanish originals were in two large draw- 
ers. The first, labeled "New Mexico Original," (NMO), con- 
sists of documents belonging to the Spanish Archives of New 
Mexico. The second, labeled "Southwest Originals," (SWO), 
contains material pertaining to the general Southwest region 
outside of New Mexico proper. In it, however, are half a 
dozen documents that ought to be in the first drawer. I also 
glanced through several drawers full of northern Mexico 
material but failed to see any New Mexicana there. 

1693. Sept. 4. Mexico. Conde de Galve to De Vargas. Receipt of news 
of first De Vargas Reconquest and latter's request for new colon- 
ists; these to be transported from Mexico City by Fr. Farfan. 
No other names. (2pp.) (NMO) 

1685. Nov. 28. Mexico. Marques de la Laguna to Governors of New 
Mexico and New Vizcaya re boundaries. (4pp.) (NMO) 

[17 ] Census of Abiquiu district. Made during term of Gov. Fer- 
nando de la Concha. Names and ages of husbands and wives. 
(12pp.) (NMO) 

1694. June. De Vargas Journal. Incomplete, (n*. 146-163). Battle of 
San Ildefonso Mesa. (34pp.) (NMO) 

1694. De Vargas Auto re Juan Paez Hurtado bringing in new fami- 
lies, and recent victories at Jemez, etc. Santa Fe, Sept. 1. (3pp.) 

(NMO) 

1702. (The following documents are in one legajo.) 

Feb. 25, Santa Fe. Cubero Auto following news of peace in 
Moquiland brought by Jose Naranjo. But Padres fear uprising. 
(3pp.) 

Feb. Roque Madrid of Santa Cruz sends in similar news. But 
Padre seems to be afraid. (2pp.) 

Halona, February. Letter of Fr. Garaycoechea to Cubero recom- 
mending Indian governor. (lp.) 

Acoma, Feb. 19. Letter of Fr. Miranda to Cubero. Friendly note, 
asks for two bison skins, (lp.) 

Cristobal de Arellano reports rumors of uprising to Cubero. 
(2pp.) 

Cochiti, Feb. 25. Juan de Uribarri to Cubero on same subject, 
dp.) 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 249 

Zia, Feb. 25. Letter of Fr. Colina to Gustos, sends rumors of 
intended revolt at Zufii. (3pp.) 
Zuni. Jose Trujillo to Cubero. 

Cochiti, Feb. 25. Gov. Cubero. Junta de Guerra. Visitation of 
various pueblos. (54pp.) 

(NMO) 

1711. Marques de la Penuela. Aug. 25. Incursions of Plains Indians 
into Pecos. (3pp.) (NMO) 

1713. Autos of Junta General following a letter of Fr. Yrazabal of 
Halona about sending Indian emissaries into Moqui province to 
feel out people for conversion. 

1715. New investigations, same problem. Gov. Mogollon. (32pp.) 

(NMO) 

1714. Jan. 20. Gov. Mogollon. Auto warning friars and alcaldes to 
guard lest Pueblos erect new estuf as. Any built to be destroyed. 
Reports from Alcaldes of various Pueblo groups. (8 pp.) 

(NMO) 

1715. July 20, Santa Fe. Autos of Junta de Guerra against Apaches 
for stealing horses. List of officers and men under Juan Paez 
Hurtado. Hurtado's Campaign Journal. (34 pp.) (NMO) 

1719. Journal of Antonio Valverde y Cosio, campaign against Utes and 
Cumanches. Incomplete. (54pp.) (NMO) 

1727. Nov. 26. Mexico. Marques de Casafuerte to Gov. Bustamante 
about French having settled El Quartelejo. (5pp.) (NMO) 

1728. April 20. Santa Fe. Auto of Gov. Bustamante following letter 
from Fr. Jose Xardon stating that the Tigua Pueblo in Moqui- 
land is ready and willing to return to ancestral sites. Junta in 
Santa Fe, two opinions discussed. Incomplete. (4pp.) (NMO) 

1728. Santa Cruz. Complaint by Miguel Martines against the phy- 
sician Xavier Romero for attempted "nefarious sin" with his 
son. Incomplete. (4 pp.) (Most likely a missing part of Sp. 
Arch. II, no. 353 in Santa Fe.) (NMO) 

1730. Orders of Viceroy to Gov. Bustamante forbidding soldiers to 
sell equipment. (Torn) (4 pp.) (NMO) 

1731. Residencia of Governor Juan Domingo Bustamante. (360 pp.) 

(NMO) 

1732. Residencia of Governor Henrique de Olavide y Michelena. (356 

PP.) tptf 

1727. June 20. Albuquerque citizens vs. Antonio Martin .coridenm@ 
lands belonging to the Villa. (12 pp.) Incomplete.^ .gtfmb) 

1737. Bando of Gov. Michelena forbidding public grazing in pastures 
set aside for presidio horses. (Large broadside.) (NMO) 

1738. Charge against christianized Plains Indians for murdering a 
pagan Cumanche. (15 pp.) (NMO) 



250 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

1738. Autos of Visitation made by Gov. Michelena. (77 pp.) (NMO) 
173-. Petition of Juan Jose Moreno for better pastures for presidio 
horses. Lands mentioned are near Santa Fe. (3 pp.) (NMO) 
1744. Residencia of Gov. Caspar Domingo de Mendoza. (266pp.) 

(NMO) 

1744. Viceregal order suppressing five commissions in the Santa Fe 
Presidio. (5pp.) (NMO) 

1745. Testimonial of original Autos sent by Gov. Codallos y Rabal to 
the Viceroy. On the Reduction of the Navajos to the Faith. 
(60pp.) (NMO) 

1746. Viceregal orders on efficacious efforts in pacification of Cu- 
manches. (22pp.) (NMO) 

1747. Gov. Cachupin. Ordinance against gambling. (Broadside.) 

(NMO) 

1748. Petition by Fr. Juan Miguel Menchero that a certain Apache be 
appointed chief tain of his rancheria. (8pp.) (NMO) 

1749. Testimonial of Fr. Menchero about his entrance into Navajo 
country to gather Indians at Paraje de Cebolletas. (llpp.) 

(NMO) 
1749. Viceregal orders following above report of Fr. Menchero. 

(13pp.) (NMO) 

1756. Santa Fe. Feb. 16. The Vicar Don Santiago Roybal asks Gov. 

Marin del Valle to have Juan Bautista Duran apprehended. 

(5pp.) (NMO) 

1756. Santa Fe. Bernardo Miera y Pacheco proposes to cast a new 
cannon from broken ordnance pieces. (7pp.) (NMO) 

1757. Indian Principales of Isleta VS Indian Raymundo of same 
pueblo. (9pp.) (NMO) 

1759. Sandia. July 20. Petition by Francisco Saes and Jose Pacheco. 
(Ip.) (NMO) 

1766. Autos against Genizaro Indians of Abiquiu, accused of sorcery 
by Fray Juan Jose Toledo. (97pp.) (NMO) 

1762. Petition of Barbara Gallegos, Canada de Cochiti, in favor of her 
husband in prison. (4pp.) (NMO) 

1762. El Paso del Norte. April 24. Manuel Antonio San Juan to Gov- 
ernor Cachupin about a Dam on the Rio del Norte. (2pp.) 

(NMO) 

1762. Autos against Manuel Armijo, alias Redondo, for criticizing 
drafting of men for Indian campaigns. (47pp.) (NMO) 

1762. Petition by Albuquerque citizens for continuation of local guard. 

Granted. (5pp.) (NMO) 

1762. Taos. Investigations concerning bigamy charges against Miguel 

Romero, Apache, (llpp.) (NMO) 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 251 

1763. Feb. 22. Investigations concerning flight of Jose Reano, detained 
in Santa Fe presidio for dementia, with four Genizaros. 1763, 
July 10, Galisteo. A Nataje chieftain reports finding their bones 
in the bison country. (12pp.) (NMO) 

1765. Sorcery charges against Mauricio Moya and Francisco Esquibel 
by Fray Juan Jose Toledo. May 31. (17pp.) (NMO) 

1763. Complaint against Alcalde Antonio Baca by Albuquerque citi- 
zens for malfeasance in office. (12pp.) (NMO) 

1763-1764. Complaint of Juan Antonio Baca of La Cienega against 
two Genizaros for stealing a cow. (28pp.) (NMO) 

1764. Viceroy Cruillas to Gov. Cachupin on complaint of Santa Cruz 
people about flight of some militiamen with local horses. 1763. 
Testimony by Cachupin on same subject. (30pp.) (NMO) 

1764. Cruillas on Cachupin's Report on the Cumanche wars. (5pp.) 

(NMO) 

1764. Petition of settlers of San Rafael de los Quelites asking for royal 
munitions. (3pp.) (NMO) 

1764. Cruillas to Cachupin on his reports concerning Indian idolatries 
and orders for suppression of them. (6pp.) (NMO) 

1765. Investigations against Baltasar Griego, Teniente of Albuquer- 
que, for trading illegally with Paches at Carnue. (6pp.) (NMO) 

1765. Suit by Domingo de Luna against Fernando de Chavez for as- 
sault. (12pp.) (NMO) 

1765. Juan de Prado of Chama against Cristobal Vigil about a debt. 
(7pp.) (NMO) 

1766. Proceedings against two Genizaros and Jose Miguel Moya, for 
cattle theft. (41pp.) (NMO) 

1766. Proceedings against mestizos Juan Roybal and Chato Beitia for 
death of a Jicarilla Apache. (26pp.) (NMO) 

1766. Jose Maria Montano and Gertrudis Cuellar, Genizaro man and 
wife, against Juan Bautista Montano for peonage, rape, mis- 
treatment. (5pp.) (NMO) 
1766. Note from Cruillas to Gov. Cachupin. (2pp.) (NMO) 
1766. De Croix to Cachupin about re-populating Abiquiu pueblo or 
founding another new one. (7pp.) (NMO) 
1766. Proceedings in case between Pedro Padilla and Manuel Vigil. 
(3pp.) (NMO) 
1766. Complaint by Cochiti Indians against Jose Moya of Santa Fe. 
(16pp.) (NMO) 
1789. Ugarte y Loyola to Governor de la Concha. (3pp.) (NMO) 
1800. De Nava to Governor of New Mexico. (3pp.) (NMO) 
1804. Salcedo to Governor of New Mexico. (Ip.) (NMO) 



252 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

1821-22-23. Account of receipts from all magistrates in New Mexico 
for the expenses of Pedro Pino, deputy to Spain. (2pp.) (NMO) 

1821. Judgment in favor of Maria Manuel Perea against Miguel Quin- 
tana. Fragment. (Ip.) (NMO) 

1823. Santa Fe Presidio. Annual pay lists. Names of personnel. (5pp.) 



1784. Santa Fe. Suit by heirs of Ana Maria de Herrera against 
Manuela Lopez on petition of Santiago Padilla. Concerning 
ancestral lands in Santa Cruz de la Canada. (77pp.) (SWO) 

1681. Otermin's interrogation of Indians. Fragment, (if. 17-18) (4pp.) 

(SWO) 

1681. Otermin Autos, official copy. (16pp.) (SWO) 

1684. Instructions of Cruzate to Juan Dominguez on Jumanas Expedi- 
tion. (3pp.) (SWO) 

1759-60. New Vizcaya. Investigations concerning Sumas War. New 
Mexico patronyms in soldier lists, (ff. 172-362) (380pp.) (SWO) 

1754. Investigations made by order of Gov. Cachupin concerning 
projects on the Rio del Norte at El Paso. (345pp.) (SWO) 



Another section of the Bancroft Library consists of 
bound volumes of manuscripts, for which there is an index, 
under the heading: Mexican Manuscripts. Due to circum- 
stances I was not able to examine this section as thoroughly 
as I desired. But here are contained the following: 

Tamaron, Pedro de, Visita de Durango. 1760. ("The Tamaron Jour- 
nal") (Mex. Mss., no. 232, ff. 123-152.) 

Apuntes sobre el Nuevo Mexico. Written at Santa Rosa, Sept. 3, 1776. 
Census of New Mexico, Spanish and Indian. 

(Mex. Mss., no. 167) 

Libros de Entradas y Recepciones, etc. Three manuscript volumes con- 
taining the names and date of reception of friars into the 
Province of the Holy Gospel in Mexico, with their origin and 
names of parents. Also interesting marginal notes. Here are 
found many friars who later came to New Mexico, some of 
whom played important roles. First volume: 1562-1584; second, 
1585-1597; third, 1597-1680. (Mex. Mss., nos. 216, 217, 218.) 

Nuevo Mexico, Cedulas Reales, 1601-1765. (Mex. Mss., no. 167.) 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 253 

III. SANTA BARBARA MISSION ARCHIVES 

These few sheets bear the personal stamp of Benjamin 
Read. Might have been lent or given by the owner to Fr. 
Engelhardt many years ago. 

1804. Circular letter of the Gustos, Fr. Jose de la Prada. Declaration 

of receipt by several friars. (4pp.) 
1811. Census of all the Missions. Fr. Antonio Cavallero, Gustos. Names 

of Missionaries. (2pp.) 
1801. Census of Laguna Pueblo with other mission data by Fr. Jose 

Benito Pereyro. (2pp.) 

1800. Census of San Antonio del Senecii, el Paso district. (lp.) 
1798. Circular letter of the Gustos, Fr. Francisco de Hosio. Receipts by 

various friars. (4pp.) 
1712. Santa Fe. Complaint by the Gustos, Fr. Juan de Tagle, to the 

Governor, concerning an unsigned letter against the friars. Some 

depositions taken. Incomplete. (18pp.) 



Book Reviews 

Hopi Kachina Dolls. Harold S. Colton. Albuquerque : Univer- 
sity of New Mexico Press, 1949. Pp. xv, 144. 

This very attractive volume, which takes Hopi Kachina 
dolls as its point of departure, is actually a more compre- 
hensive study than the modest disclaimer of the author indi- 
cates. Dr. Colton in this volume has collated all of the ma- 
terial on the Kachina cult among the Hopi villages repre- 
sented by the publications of Fewkes, Dorsey and Voth, 
Stephen, Earle and Kennard, and Mrs. Stephenson's and 
Ruth Bunzel's accounts of the Zuni, in order to give the 
uninformed a clear picture as to the nature and function of 
Kachina dolls and their relationship to the colorful cere- 
monies of the Kachinas as they occur in the Hopi villages. 
In addition to published sources, Dr. Colton has amplified 
and extended a description of the characteristics of both the 
Kachinas and their miniature counterparts by some 30 years 
of personal observation and additional checking and verifica- 
tion by Hopi informants. 

While the book is not addressed primarily to the scientific 
specialist, it would still be an extremely useful book for 
Southwestern ethnologists who would like a rather complete 
compendium of the distribution of various features of 
Kachina masks and dancing throughout the Southwest. 

The nature of the cult, the beliefs surrounding them, the 
variety of masks, body decorations and appurtenances, and 
the conventional manner in which these are represented by 
the Hopi who is carving and painting a doll, are all described 
with sufficient detail so that the unwary need not be led 
astray by some of the tall tales of the Southwest. 

The volume is illustrated by nineteen photographic illus- 
trations of Kachina dolls, half of them in color and half in 
black and white. In addition to the photographic illustrations 
by Jack Breed, there is a complete set of line drawings of 
Kachina masks classified according to common features of 
the mask, its forms or a significant aspect of its decoration 
which enables the observer to group them into systematic 

254 



BOOK REVIEWS 255 

categories. In the description and cross reference of some 
250 Kachinas which have either been reported in the litera- 
ture or mentioned by his informants, black and white line 
drawings are included wherever possible. 

This reviewer feels certain that this volume will be very 
welcome as an addition to the ethnological literature of the 
Southwest and a valuable vade mecum for the perceptive but 
unwary tourist who is interested in collecting Indian sou- 
venirs in the Southwest. 

Arlington, Virginia. EDWARD A. KENNARD 

The Journey of Fray Marcos de Niza. Cleve Hallenbeck. 
Illustrated by Jose Cisneros. Dallas : University Press in 
Dallas, 1949. Pp. 115. $10.00. 

This masterpiece of the printer's art begins with a brief 
treatise on certain ancient legends which in the sixteenth 
century found their supposed locale in the unknown country 
north of New Spain. After mentioning Cabeza de Vaca's 
adventures the author leads up to Viceroy Mendoza's plan 
to send Fray Marcos de Niza to discover the legendary Seven 
Cities of Cibola. Then follow the author's own translations 
from the Pacheco printed narratives of the Viceroy's instruc- 
tions, of Fray Marcos' Narrative, and of the two official 
certifications of this Narrative. The last main portion of the 
book consists of Hallenbeck's Analysis of the Narrative and 
his Notes, followed by the expected bibliography and index 
as well as a brief biography of the author, who died before 
the completed manuscript saw print. 

Hallenbeck apodictically concludes that Fray Marcos 
never reached Hawikuh, pictures him as a sensual fellow pri- 
marily interested in his meals and his siestas, and vitri- 
olically labels him an unmitigated liar "The Lying Monk." 
The publisher, endorsing the work as "the first really serious 
study testing the accuracy of the Narrative of Fray Marcos 
de Niza," blazons the theme of "Lying Monk" on the jacket- 
blurb with undisguised gusto. 

The serious student of New World history knows that the 
Narrative of Fray Marcos de Niza presents many problems, 



256 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

problems that have divided historians into two camps re- 
garding the matter. The proponents of both sides have been 
able men who have stated the arguments with convincing 
force if not entirely conclusive validity. For the controversy 
centers on a man who lived four centuries ago and on a 
single document of his which leaves plenty of room for spec- 
ulation. It would require a book to review all these argu- 
ments, and the result would be another Niza volume, but 
not an end to the controversy. Apparently, no mere specu- 
lation on this single document will settle the question ; future 
documentary discoveries might, one way or the other. 

Hallenbeck's general argument, and that of his prede- 
cessors contra Niza, seem to run as follows: Fray Marcos 
made a journey to Cibola in which he minutely jotted down 
every single league and day of travel, and when he got back 
to New Spain he wrote down a complete and detailed account 
of that journey; but, my own study of the terrain as it is 
today, of the Indian villages and Spanish towns as I think 
they were located then, and the time element needed for 
traveling between certain points, do not jibe in many in- 
stances with that journal ; therefore, Niza's Narrative is in 
great part a fabrication and Niza himself is a liar. The con- 
clusion flows from the premises. However, who of us expects 
this pioneer sixteenth-century friar to have measured the 
miles exactly and kept a diary while he trekked over immense 
stretches of unknown territory, beset by real or imagined 
dangers on every side? And when back in New Spain he sat 
down to pen his account, how can he possibly have set down 
every adventure in precise logical order, especially since the 
only thing required of him was a general statement of what 
he had seen and heard? I myself have an average memory, 
but I recall that, on being asked to write about my experi- 
ences shortly after my return from the Pacific War Theater, 
I could not place the many interesting happenings in their 
right sequence, or guess how many days or weeks I had spent 
at a certain spot or in traveling from one point to another. 
Even after I established some general dates by running 
through my military orders, I still could not marshall these 
facts in the exact time-and-space order in which they oc- 



BOOK REVIEWS 257 

curred. And I don't think that my own experiences were 
more confusing, surrounded as I was by my American fellow- 
soldiers, than those of poor Marcos all alone in an unmapped 
wilderness among strange savages whose language he could 
not understand. The second premise speaks for itself. De- 
spite the author's admirable exploration, the exact location 
of some place-names mentioned by Niza and others has not 
been settled definitely. Nor can we say that the weather cycle 
in a locality was the same four centuries ago as it is today. 
And yet Hallenbeck, for instance, says that Fray Marcos 
could not have traveled fast across a certain territory be- 
cause, on the ipse dixit of Sauer, the many arroyos and 
streams of this area are swollen torrents at this time of year 
today. This is an example of several minor proofs offered to 
bolster up the premise. They are good arguments, coming 
from one who personally studied the terrain as the profes- 
sional weatherman that Hallenbeck was, but they are by no 
means conclusive enough to warrant his all-sweeping conclu- 
sion. Nor does it seem that he ever read the arguments on 
this score put forth in April, 1947, by a pro-Marcos historian 
who writes ably and coolly and more convincingly than Hal- 
lenbeck, yet humbly admits that he has not solved the Niza 
problem because of a lack of further necessary data. 1 

Another Hallenbeck proposition that colors his analysis, 
though not expressed in so many words, can be stated some- 
thing like this : There are many lies in the Niza Narrative 
(which everybody admits) ; but, the Indians who informed 
Niza did not tell him any lies, and the slave Esteban, who was 
not really a Negro, was a truthful and jolly fellow; ergo, 
all the lies in Niza's Narrative are Niza's own. The author's 
idea of the Indians' moral character seems to be the Cooper- 
Longfellow fantasy coupled with Rousseau's noble savage. 
Actually, the Indian as such is neither more of a liar nor a 
paragon of truth than the white man or any other race ; but 
there are several instances in New World history that show 
him telling the eager white explorer what the latter wants 
to know. One can see how Esteban, far ahead, asked the 



1. George J. Undreiner, "Fray Marcos de Niza and His Journey to Cibola," The 
Americas, Vol. Ill, No. 4, pp. 415-486. 



258 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

tribesmen about the seven golden cities, and they obliged by 
turning his very words into an answer ; and when days later 
the friar arrived asking the same questions, these Indians 
were already well-primed to give him the same answer with 
further details. And Niza, no different from his contempo- 
raries, was gullible enough to believe them because he firmly 
believed the fables of his times to be true. As for Esteban, 
Dorantes' Morocco-born slave, Hallenbeck insists that he was 
an Arab and not a Negro, as he did in a previous work on 
Cabeza de Vaca, contrary to the testimony in many contem- 
porary documents where he is repeatedly called a Negro and 
regarded as such. Why he does so, since this fact has nothing 
to do with the Niza problem, is hard to figure out unless 
Esteban is a sort of hero to him, and he does not want his 
hero and discoverer of New Mexico to be a Negro. The fact 
that the slave is euphemistically called a moreno once does 
not change the color of his skin. 2 Was Hallenbeck anti-Negro 
as well as anti-friar? 

This brings us to the almost pathological hate which Hal- 
lenbeck harbored against a friar four hundred years dead, 
and which makes it hard for the reviewer who feels that he 
must criticize the work of a man who also has passed away. 
Had Niza's supposed lies hurt the reputation of some other 
historical person, and were Hallenbeck trying to defend that 
person, one could understand his animosity. But this is not 
the case as he goes tooth and nail after the person of Fray 
Marcos. And so there comes the repeated epithet of "Lying 
Monk" as the name given to Niza (so he states) by his con- 
temporaries, and for which he avoids giving a reference. 
Niza was a friar, not a monk, and there were no monks in 
Spanish America at the time ; maybe this is why he cannot 
give a reference. The word "monk," though still a highly re- 
spected term in Catholic and well-informed circles for mem- 
bers of the ancient Monastic Orders, has gathered a simian 
connotation among other people, and hence Hallenbeck's de- 
liberate and unscientific use of it points to a decided bias. 
Space does not allow for even a cursory criticism of his many 

2. Cf. "De Vargas' Negro Drummer," El Palacio, Vol. 56, No. 5, p. 136, where a 
Negro of the African jungle is referred to as "de Nation Moreno." 



BOOK REVIEWS 259 

misinterpretations of old Spanish terms in his Analysis, and 
Notes particularly, the result of using a modern Spanish 
dictionary without a thorough background of sixteenth- 
century semantics. 

Fray Marcos de Niza is not a candidate for canonization. 
He could have been a liar, or worse, or at least he could have 
lied with regard to his discovery of Cibola. But that remains 
to be demonstrated by a sober historian well-versed in all 
the known documentary sources of sixteenth-century Span- 
ish America plus as yet undiscovered documents that might 
clarify the matter. The late Mr. Hallenbeck lacked these 
qualifications, not to mention the undiscovered sources. 

The material book of paper and type, designed and pro- 
duced by Carl Hertzog and wonderfully illustrated by Jose 
Cisneros, is worth the price asked for it. Any author of his- 
tory, poetry, or fiction, would be justly proud to see his works 
in such an artistic format. If Cisneros makes Fray Marcos 
look like a sensual brigand, and Esteban like a nattily dressed 
Spanish soldier with Semitic features (instead of the Negro 
with bright feathers on wrists and ankles as he actually wore 
them) , he is but being faithful to the author's descriptions. 
What his medium is, whether genuine engraving or ink- 
drawing to simulate engraving, even some seasoned artists 
cannot tell for sure the title-page (with a kind of negative 
deception?) merely introduces them as "Illustrations and 
Decorations. " They are beautiful nevertheless, and match 
the type perfectly. This book is indeed a fine piece of jewelry 
made to display a beautiful pearl that unfortunately turns 
out to be a bitter pill. 

Pena Blanca, New Mexico FRAY ANGELICO CHAVEZ 

Grassland Historical Studies : Natural Resources Utilization 
in a Background of Science and Technology. Volume I, 
Geography and Geology. James C. Malin. Lawrence, Kan- 
sas. Printed by the author, 1541 University Drive, 1950. 
Pp. xii, 377. $2.50. (Lithoprint from typescript, paper 
cover) 

In this, the first of three volumes in a series, there are 



260 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

two loosely integrated studies : first, an essay on geological 
factors in the settlement of the grasslands region between 
the great bend of the Missouri River and the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and, second, a fragmentary history of Kansas City 
culled mostly from the columns of a local newspaper of the 
1850's decade. 

The study of historical geology occupies the first seventy- 
five pages, and was prepared simultaneously with the au- 
thor's earlier work, The Grassland of North America: 
Prolegomena of Its History (1947). Briefly, the thesis here 
is that the grasslands required increasing dependence upon 
minerals in the development of those areas. That fact, rather 
than Frederick Jackson Turner's concept of geographical 
movement or the closing of the frontier has made for signifi- 
cant changes in twentieth century society. Utilization of min- 
erals has interacted with mechanical invention to bring 
about an interdependent civilization. 

After tracing with scholarly detail the various geological 
surveys that uncovered knowledge of mineral wealth from 
the Alleghenies to the Rockies, the author demonstrates with 
numerous quotations the interest of some immigrants in 
these resources of the grasslands. It was not until later, 
however, or outside the scope of this volume, that the use 
of minerals became a decisive factor in the region. 

The remaining eighteen chapters of this work illustrate 
how well a single newspaper can be used to develop the 
history of a town. From the columns of the Kansas City 
Enterprise (later published as the Western Journal of Com- 
merce) there emerges a many-sided account of five years in 
the life of a thriving river-valley entrepot. The reader can 
follow the jealous conflict for supremacy between Kansas 
City and nearby towns, and read an ecological explanation 
of the outcome. Especially interesting to southwesterners 
are new details of the Santa Fe trade in the late 1850's. The 
commerce was then largely carried on by New Mexicans (not 
eastern merchants) , and wool was increasingly significant in 
eastward bound trains. There is also a valuable description 
of early marketing of Texas cattle in Kansas City (Texas 
fever was a hindrance even then), and the historically ne- 



BOOK REVIEWS 261 

glected overland droving- from the Missouri River to Colo- 
rado and California. All aspects of Kansas City's trade for 
the period find presentation in statistical summaries from 
the newspaper's annual reviews of commerce. Although the 
analysis is complete enough, much could have been gained 
here by a better organization of the facts. Never is it pos- 
sible to escape an admission made in the preface that these 
studies "are frankly fragments put together with the mini- 
mum of organization." Long and undigested quotations are a 
disadvantage to the narrative. 

Other aspect of early town development : levees, streets, 
building materials and kindred subjects have more interest 
for the antiquarian and less for the historian than do chap- 
ters given to river communication, manufacturing, the Panic 
of 1857, railroads, and a summary of conditions after the 
Civil War. Views of the Kansas City editors on political 
aspects of sectional controversy and the Civil War are hardly 
adequate explanations of major events in spite of Professor 
Malin's attempts to find in these biased views a significant 
relationship to larger trends. Indeed, the political aspects of 
the study underline the limitations inevitable in too complete 
reliance upon a single source. 

This reviewer cannot agree with the statement (preface, 
v) that this is the "first time that geology and the expansion 
of geological knowledge has (sic) been made an integral part 
of a major historical study," or that (p. 59n) "in most fields 
of both the sciences and the humanities Americans of the 
middle and late nineteenth century were European trained." 
Various homilies on hindsight in history and other obiter 
dicta are strewn gratuitously through the chapters. There 
is also unnecessary jargon acquired from the social sciences. 
But Professor Malin has gleaned significant ideas on trade, 
manufacturing, and transportation from the yellowed files of 
a western newspaper, and his synthesis of geological explora- 
tion and social development is important. 

This volume has neither index nor bibliography; foot- 
notes are placed at the end of each chapter. A brief history 
of Kansas City (William H. Miller, "Kansas City, Its His- 
tory From the Earliest Times," first published in the West- 



262 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

em Journal of Commerce, January 14, 1877) is reprinted as 
an appendix. There are a number of interesting illustrations 
taken from early prints or engravings of Kansas City. The 
lithoprint text is quite legible. 

University of New Mexico GEORGE WINSTON SMITH 

The Lost Pathfinder: Zebulon Montgomery Pike. W. Eugene 
Hollon. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1949. 
Pp. xv, 240. Illustrations, map, bibliography and index. 
$3.75. 

Pike is numbered among those to whom the Louisiana 
Purchase brought lasting fame. For this reason, too, he 
stands high on the local honor roll. In fact he placed his name 
there with triple honors: as explorer, author of a bizarre 
book of travels, and as a brave and resourceful army officer. 
In Colorado his name is attached to an imperishable monu- 
ment and in New Mexico one traces the first stages of his 
trail that reverses the course of the early Spanish conquis- 
tadores. 

Despite such memorable connections Pike has received 
far less local attention than his stirring career deserves. 
Hence the appearance of an attractive volume from an Okla- 
homan press affords welcome evidence that the Far South- 
west is not unmindful of its own. This hero, like its earlier 
explorers, came in alien garb and his course has apparently 
inspired more pens outside this area than within it. The pre- 
sent author, like most of the previous biographers, is a re- 
cent arrival in the region ; but to his task has brought much 
of the energy and resourcefulness that marked the explorer's 
own career. Dr. Hollon, with the aid of a substantial grant, 
was able to add a meager store of personal data, without 
changing greatly the earlier conclusions of such critical 
scholars as Coues, Quaife, Hart and Hulbert, with whom his 
work will bear close comparison. 

Pike's family affairs as well as his major activities were 
closely connected with many of the leaders of the Ohio Val- 
ley. Born in New Jersey his father, like himself an army of- 
ficer, early moved his family to the Old Northwest. Here the 



BOOK REVIEWS 263 

future explorer-author found the frontier and the army his 
chief teachers, but he proved no tyro in self -instruction and 
in guiding the younger members of the family. It is unfor- 
tunate that fire and other destructive elements have deprived 
us of most illustrative materials of this initial activity from 
which Pike himself derived the major reward. In spite of 
these handicaps, Dr. Hollon has presented us with a readable 
narrative that provides a substantial foundation for the 
young officer's adult years. 

Among those who supplemented Nature's efforts in train- 
ing him was General James Wilkinson. Such a connection, 
it later appeared, was to prove a handicap, but the younger 
man owed much to the General and he never let the latter's 
double dealing affect either personal devotion to his patron 
or his loyalty to the nation he served. It was a difficult course 
for a subordinate to pursue ; but Pike, as our author shows, 
kept it up with honor. In this and in other mooted points, 
Prof. Hollon preserves both good temper and critical judg- 
ment, but cannot wholly relieve Pike of the charge of plagiar- 
ism from Humboldt's narrative and map of Mexico. Much 
of this charge may be explained from Pike's inexperience 
and the loose copyright laws of the day. In his behalf it may 
be stated that Pike was the first of the leading explorers of 
the Louisiana Purchase to bring his results before the pub- 
lic. In this sense the young officer performed a meritorious 
national service. 

While Pike's reputation rests primarily on his work as an 
explorer, his author does not neglect his hero's course as an 
officer. His career in a few years raised the young lieutenant 
to a brigadier. Most criticisms of the work will deal with in- 
terpretation rather than fact. The reviewer notes one minor 
slip (p. 50) but congratulates the author on the high level 
of his performance and his interesting style. 

Aside from the general merits of the book the reviewer, 
for one, hopes to note a wider interest in its subject. "Pike's 
Peak" forms a fitting memorial to his wanderings in the 
vicinity during the trying winter of 1806-07. Little effort is 
necessary to call public attention to both the natural me- 
morial and its hero. New Mexico, on its part, needs to pay 



264 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

more attention to Pike's route to the border, or to Chihuahua, 
or even back to Natchitoches on the Louisiana-Texas fron- 
tier. "Pike's Pilgrimage" thus defined may well supple- 
ment "Pike's Peak" as an object of well-deserved patriotic 
attention. 

University of New Mexico ISAAC JOSLIN Cox 




^Mexico 



Historical Review 



'<v. 




Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe 



October, 1950 



Editors 
FRANK D. REEVE PAUL A. F. WALTER 

Associates 

PERCY M. BALDWIN GEORGE P. HAMMOND 

FRANCE V. SCHOLES THEODOSIUS MEYER, O.F.M. 

ARTHUR J. 0. ANDERSON 

VOL. XXV OCTOBER, 1950 No. 4 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Ramon Ortiz: Priest and Patriot 

Fidelia Miller Puckett 265 



A Civilian at Old Fort Bayard 1881-1883 

Roy Goodale, editor 296 



Frederick E. Phelps: a Soldier's Memoirs (concluded) 

Frank D. Reeve, editor 305 



Notes and Documents 328 

Book Reviews 335 



THB NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW is published jointly by the Historical Society 
of New Mexico and the University of New Mexico. Subscription to the quarterly ia 
$3.00 a year in advance; single numbers, except those which have become scarce, are 
$1.00 each. 

Business communications should be addressed to Mr. P. A. F. Walter, State 
Museum, Santa Fe, N. M. ; manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be 
addressed to Prof. Frank D. Reeve, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. M. 

Entered as second-class matter at Santa Fe, New Mexico 
UNIVERSITY PRESS, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. 



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NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL 
REVIEW 

VOL. XXV OCTOBER, 1950 No. 4 

RAMON ORTIZ: PRIEST AND PATRIOT 
By FIDELIA MILLER PUCKETT* 

An hour later the door into the big room of the city prison opened 
and the colonel, a young priest, and the surgeon of the garrison stepped 
in. The man with the yellow beard was kneeling before a squaw 
seated on a bench. He was washing and binding up her wounded feet. 
The young priest walked forward and touched Anthony on the 
shoulder. "I see we both serve the same master, senor," he said. "We 
have come to help you. Wipe your hands on my gown. My name is 
Ramon Ortiz. As you may have guessed, I am the cura of El Paso 
and yours!" 1 

THE many thousands of readers who followed the adven- 
tures of Anthony Adverse in Hervey Allen's widely- 
read novel of the same name may recognize the above quota- 
tion and remember the gratitude they felt toward the young 
Padre for his kindness to the sorely tried Texan prisoners. 
However, few of those readers may know that "Ramon 
Ortiz" was a true historical character who had actually 
figured in a similar occurrence one hundred years ago. In 
1844, George W. Kendall, a journalist, first brought the 



* Fidelia Miller Puckett (Mrs. C. A. Puckett) of El Paso, Texas, wrote this very 
interesting article in 1935 as a "theme paper" which has never been published intact. 
Mr. Luis Alfonso Velarde of El Paso acquainted me with it, and its author has 
graciously given me permission to edit it for publication in the NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL, 
REVIEW. I have confined myself to correcting genealogical data which are based on 
TwitchelTs many erroneous assertions, and these corrections are appended to the 
footnotes to avoid altering large sections of Mrs. Puckett's original text. There are 
also some helpful notes offered by Mr. Velarde. N. B. My interest in the origins of the 
Ortiz family is also personal, as shown in the accompanying chart which I have 
drawn up from accurate data in civil and church records. Fray Angelico Chavez. 

1. Hervey Allen, Anthony Adverse (New York, Farrar & Rinehart, inc., 1933) pp. 
1184-1185. 

265 



266 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

young "cura" into national prominence when he published 
his account of the Texas-Santa Fe Expedition. This book, 
which was read and discussed in every corner of the United 
States, created such a furore of resentment against the 
Mexicans that it helped to precipitate the war with Mexico. 
The name of Ramon Ortiz was on many tongues, although to 
a people who knew the whole Mexican race only by the Santa 
Anas and the Armijos he must have seemed a paradox. 
After the war and its consequent antagonisms had become 
only a part of history, the good priest was quickly forgotten 
by the nation; but with the ever-growing interest in the 
development of our great Southwest and its literature, 
Ramon Ortiz is being rediscovered. Soldier and trader, his- 
torian and adventurer alike seem to have known, liked and 
respected him, and all who have delved into the fascinating 
writings of these pioneer chroniclers have encountered his 
name so many times that they must have felt at least a faint 
curiosity about the man. In my case, the desire to become 
better acquainted with the young "cura" was first aroused 
by a few lines in Ruxton's Wild Life in the Rocky Mountains. 
The young British adventurer told of his rejection of the 
invitation from the "prefecto" of Paso del Norte because, he 
says, "I had letters to the cura, a young priest named Ortiz, 
whose unbounded hospitality I enjoyed during my stay." 2 
This interest led me into a quest for added information from 
all available literature and from the lips of a few surviving 
relatives who knew and loved Father Ortiz personally. My 
findings have been incorporated in the following short 
biography. 

For many centuries the name of Ortiz has been a dis- 
tinguished one in the pages of Spanish and Mexican history. 
During the struggle of Spain with the Moors, a certain Ortiz 
gained immortal fame by virtually stealing, almost single- 
handed, the city of Guevarra from the Moors, and was 
rewarded by his sovereign with the title "Nino Ladron de 



2. G. F. A. Ruxton, Wild Life in the Rockies (New York, Macmillan, 1916) p. 23. 



RAMON ORTIZ 267 

Guevara." 3 The descendants of this valiant cavalier proudly 
kept this addition to their name for many generations, and 
in 1582 we find Don Pedro Ortiz Nino Ladron de Guevara 
entering New Spain as the Secretary of War and Govern- 
ment to Don Domingo Petriz Cruzate, captain-general of 
the province of New Mexico and successor to Otermin. 4 At 
that time the Spaniards had all been driven from New 
Mexico by the Indian uprisings, and Cruzate and Ortiz were 
unsuccessful in several attempts to reconquer the province. 
In 1692, Don Diego de Vargas was appointed governor of 
New Mexico, and he, too, chose an Ortiz to aid him in his 
campaign, this time the younger brother of Pedro, Nicholas 
Ortiz Nino Ladron de Guevara. With Don Nicholas into the 
savage territory went his wife, Maria Coronado, and his son, 
Don Nicholas II. 5 From that time on, during Spanish, Mexi- 
can and United States supremacy, the Ortiz family has 
figured prominently among the "ricos politicos" of New 
Mexico. 

Nicholas Ortiz II proved himself worthy of the blood of 
the conquistador and reconquistador flowing in his veins, 
spending fifty busy years helping to subdue the Indians and 



3. R. E. Twitchell, Spanish Archives of New Mexico (Cedar Rapids, Iowa, The 
Torch Press, 1912) I, 177. While this gives the origin of the name, "Ladron de 
Guevara," it and the name "Ortiz" are neither synonymous nor interchangeable. 
Fr. A. C. 

4. Ibid., p. 2. Cruzate's Captain, "Don Pedro Ladron de Guevara," thus signed 
his name in two matrimonial investigations at El Paso in 1691 and 1692 (Archives, 
Archdiocese of Santa Fe) ; also in civil documents as secretary to Cruzate (Bancroft 
Collection, Southwest Originals) ; and this is his name in his marriage to Maria 
Gomez Lozada, July 16, 1684 (Peabody Museum, Bandelier Notes from the first marriage 
book of El Paso). Twitchell here inserted "Nino" and "Ortiz" to identify him with 
the altogether distinct Nicolas Ortiz family which did not arrive until 1693. Fr. A. C. 

5. Ibid., p. 177. De Vargas had no Ortiz officers in his Reconquest Campaigns of 
1692 and 1693. The primogenitor of the New Mexico Ortiz family arrived in the latter 
year as a settler and is so included among the new colonists : Nicolas Ortiz, son of the 
same, native of Mexico, forty years old. His wife is Mariana Coronado, daughter 
of Francisco Hernandes, twenty-eight years old, and a native of Jimiquilpa. Their 
six children are : Josefa, fourteen ; Manuela, three ; Nicolas, ten ; Antonio, eight ; Luis, 
six; Francisco, one year old (Spanish Archives . . ., v. II, Velasco list, no. 64c). 
Although he had signed up as a sergeant at Zacatecas, Nov. 30, 1692 (Biblioteca 
Nacional de Mexico, leg. 4, pt. 1, pp. 814-816), a later list drawn up at Durango and 
Parral, Aug. 19-Sept. 1, 1693, has him and his family among the civilians (Ibid., pp. 
830-834). One of his sons, Nicolas Ortiz II, who later did become a prominent soldier, 
is here set down as eight years old, and ten years old in the Velasco list above. 
Fr. A. C. 



268 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

building a home for his ever increasing progeny. As a re- 
ward for his zeal, he was given a large grant of land near 
the San Ildefonso pueblo by the "most excellent Viceroy, the 
Conde de Galvez, by authority of the King himself/' 6 A home 
was built on the Ortiz grant, but so frequent and disastrous 
were the Indian depredations that the grandsons of Nicholas 
were forced to seek more protected dwellings within the city 
of Santa Fe. 7 Here, in 1813, one of these grandsons, Don 
Antonio Ortiz, alferez-real of Santa Fe, and his wife, Maria 
Teresa Mier, 8 became the proud parents of a son, whom they 
called Ramon. 

There were already several daughters in the family, one 
of whom, Ana Maria, was grown and married, and the couple 
had almost despaired of being blessed with a son. With the 



6. Ibid., p. 318. Nicholas Ortiz II was the first to append "Nino Ladron de 
Guevara" to his name, probably harking back to a paternal or maternal grandparent 
as was often the custom in those times. (In this page referred to by Mrs. Puckett, 
Twitchell mixes up sons and grandsons with their fathers and grandfathers in one 
inextricable mass). Already in 1697, Nicolas Ortiz II, a mere youth of seventeen, 
received a special military citation for bravery from Governor De Vargas (B. N. M., 
leg. 4, no. la). He was stationed at the post of Bernalillo when he married Juana 
Baca, Nov. 6, 1702 (A.A.S.F.) . Back in Santa Fe, where he lived the rest of his life, 
he acquired lands and fortune as a very diligent merchant (Spanish Archives . . . , v. 
I, nos. 181, 102, etc.). He died in 1742, leaving his wife and three sons: Francisco, 
Nicolas III, and Toribio (Spanish Archives . . . , v. I, no. 647). Fr. A. C. 

7. Ibid., p. 319. Church and civil records of the first half of the eighteenth cen- 
tury show that the many descendants of these three Nicolas Ortizes (I, II, III), by 
their respective children, were living both in Santa Fe and the Pojoaque-Nambe dis- 
trict. Some individual families moved back and forth between the Capital and their 
northern grant lands. But Indian depredations were certainly not the cause, for this 
peaceful area has been populated continuously by Spanish people from 1697 to this 
day. Fr. A. C. 

8. Actual date of birth unknown ; year figured from age at death, according to 
notice in El Paso Daily Herald (March 6, 1896, p. 4, col. 2). Nor have I been able to 
find the birth record of Ramon Ortiz in the Santa Fe or Rio Arriba books for this 
period, although I did find those of several brothers and sisters : Francisco de Paula 
Ortiz, Feb. 8, 1790, in Santa Fe ; Jose Manuel and Salvador Jose Miguel Ortiz, twins, 
June 5, 1795, at Nambe ; Maria del Rosario Ortiz, Sept. 4, 1799, at Pojoaque ; Maria 
del Refugio Ortiz, April 30, 1805, in Santa Fe ; Maria Josefa Ortiz, March 18, 1810, 
in Santa Fe (A.A.S.F.). The WILL of Don Antonio Ortiz in the New Mexico Museum 
Archives provides the following data: Drawn up, April 27, 1837. Don Antonio was a 
son of Jose Antonio Ortiz and Rosa Bustamante. Up to this date he and his wife, 
Maria Teresa Miera, had been married for forty-nine years. Their eleven children are 
named in the following order: Francisco de Paula "the eldest," Maria Barbara, Miguel 
and Manuel (these two died after baptism), Ana Maria, Juana Maria (died after bap- 
tism), Maria del Rosario, Maria del Refugio, Maria Josefa. Jose Ramon, and Ana 
Teresa (died after baptism). The testator further on refers again to"wiy son, the 
Padre Don Ramon Ortiz" and to a son-in-law, Jose de Jesus Sanchez (Casa Mortuoria 
de Dona Rosa Bustamante and other Ortiz Papers ) . Fr. A. C. 

Names of parents from Ecclesiastical Records of Juarez Mission, Libro de Entie- 
rros, 1886-1896, f. 231. 



RAMON ORTIZ 269 

strong and simple faith of the Spanish mother, Dona Teresa 
had never ceased to pray to St. Joseph to intercede in her 
behalf that God might send her a son. She made a solemn 
vow that, should her boon be granted, she would return 
thanks by rearing her son for the priesthood. Her prayer 
was answered, but by the time Ramon was born, her husband 
had died, and she knew that she was soon to follow him. 
Dona Teresa never regained her strength, and a few months 
later she called her eldest child to her death-bed and en- 
trusted her beloved infant to his sister's care, admonishing 
Ana Maria not to fail to carry out the promise made to St. 
Joseph. Ana Maria had a child of her own, a daughter, 
Josefa, about the same age as Ramon, and the two children 
were entrusted to the same nurse. During the whole of their 
lives, these two "hermanos de leche" were as deeply devoted 
to one another as if they had been truly brother and sister. 9 
A few years after the adoption of Ramon, Sr. Delgado, 
the husband of Ana Maria, was killed ; the young widow later 
married the brilliant and dashing Colonel Antonio Viz- 
carra. 10 Col. Vizcarra was attached to the presidio at Santa 
Fe and had gained much renown as an Indian fighter. A man 
of commanding appearance, dignified, with perfect manners, 
and the best horseman in Santa Fe, 11 he was, with his 
glamorous background, just the type for an impressionable 
boy to regard as a hero. To Ramon he was a model of man- 
hood, and the boy's one desire was to emulate his foster- 

9. Interview with Mrs. J. O. Najera, nee Daguerre, daughter of Refugio Samaniego 
de Daguerre. From the tenor of Don Antonio's will it appears that Dona Teresa Miera 
was still living in 1837 ; and from the baptism of her daughter, Maria Josefa, we learn 
that her parents were Don Anacleto Miera and Maria Tafoya. She and Antonio Ortiz 
were married in the military chapel, Santa Fe, on June 20, 1785. Their eldest, Francisco 
de Paula Ortiz, married Martina de Arce in Santa Fe, April 13, 1809. Maria Josefa 
married Manuel Doroteo Pino, Nov. 15. 1826. Barbara was the wife of Jose de Jesus 
Sanchez. Ana Maria was already married to Fernando Delgado in 1814, and their child, 
Maria Josefa de Jesus del Pilar, was born in Santa Fe, Jan. 25 of that same year 
(A.A.S.F.). Fr. A. C. 

10. Interview with Mrs. J. J. Flores, nee Samaniego, daughter of Fernando 
Samaniego, grand-nephew of Father Ortiz. On June 16, 1821, took place the burial 
of the bones of the Alferez, Don Fernando Delgado, and of two soldiers, brought to 
the military chapel of Our Lady of Light in Santa Fe. In this same chapel, April 
14, 1824, his widow married Don Jose Antonio Vizcarra, Lieutenant Colonel in charge 
of all troops in New Mexico, the son of Juan Jose Vizcarra and Gertrudis Alvarado, 
residents of Cuencame, Province of Durango (A.A.S.F.). Fr. A. C. 

11. R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History (Cedar Rapids, 
Iowa, Torch Press, 1912) p. 23. 



270 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

father in every way possible. In 1823, Colonel Vizcarra was 
chosen, by popular petition, first "jefe politico" of New 
Mexico under the Mexican regime, 12 and Ana Maria became 
the first lady of Santa Fe. As Ramon was then nine years of 
age, it was high time to give serious thought to his education. 
There was no school worthy of the son of the governor 
closer than Durango, and Ana Maria, mindful of their 
mother's vow, urged that Ramon be sent to the diocesan 
seminary in that city. Accordingly, the lad set out on the long 
trek into Mexico, and it is a pity that we have no record of 
his sensations and experiences during that journey. Prob- 
ably the thrilling accounts of the Indian fights which he had 
heard from the Colonel had made him eager for the adven- 
ture and compensated in some measure for the sorrow he 
must have felt at being separated from his beloved family. 

During the next six years, Colonel Vizcarra's fame and 
popularity increased. After his first term as "jefe" had 
expired, he was made inspector-general of the Mexican 
forces in the territory, in recognition of his success in sub- 
jugating the Navahos. The first big caravans from the east 
were beginning to arrive in Santa Fe, and Colonel Vizcarra, 
with his troops, escorted some of the richest of these trains 
from that city to Choteau's Island, to protect them from the 
Indians. In 1828, he again occupied the governor's chair for 
a short while, until the regular appointee could arrive from 
Mexico. 13 

Meanwhile, young Ramon was becoming restless in the 
confinement of the seminary ; his letters home carried pleas 
for permission to return. Josef a had been married, at four- 
teen years of age, to a Don Samaniego, and had moved to 
Sonora, 14 and Ramon had begun to realize more than ever 
his segregation from all he held most dear. He had reached 
the age when he must begin serious preparation for Holy 
Orders if he was to remain at the seminary, and he rebelled 
at the thought of the restricted life of a priest. His soldier 

12. L. Bradford Prince, Concise History of New Mexico (Cedar Rapids. Iowa. 
The Torch Press, 1914) p. 150; Twitchell, op. eft., p. 16. 

13. Ibid., pp. 17, 22, 26, 43. 

14. Interview with Mrs. Najera. Don Florentine ( ?) Samaniego, father of Dr. 
Mariano Samaniego ; he moved to Bavispe, Sonora. Note by Luis Alfonso Velarde. 



RAMON ORTIZ 271 

ancestry and his intense admiration for the man he called 
father made him long for a military career of his own. His 
entreaties became so urgent that Colonel Vizcarra, secretly 
in sympathy with the boy, decided to make a visit to Durango 
to talk the matter over with him. In his position of impor- 
tance, Vizcarra was privy to all the quarrels then raging 
between the Franciscans and the secular native-born priests ; 
few knew better than he the bitter fight the church was hav- 
ing against poverty and political interference. He had no 
desire to see his ward thrust into this atmosphere of bicker- 
ing and intrigue, nor did he feel that a descendant of con- 
quistadores could be happy in any life but that of a soldier. 
Despite Ana Maria's fearful warnings against any inter- 
ference with her mother's sacred compact, the Colonel went 
to see the Bishop of Durango and sought to have Ramon 
relieved from the vow. The good Bishop assured him that 
Dona Teresa, despite her pious motives, had been wrong in 
seeking to determine the future of her son, and that the 
Church did not consider such an oath as binding. 

It was a relieved and happy Ramon who began his prepa- 
rations to leave the seminary. He and his foster-father 
discussed plans for his future, agreeing that a course of 
intensive training in the famous "Ecole Militaire" of St. Cyr 
would be the best way to begin his career. Ramon resolutely 
overlooked any secret qualms he might have had in thus 
disregarding his mother's wishes, and impatiently awaited 
the day for departure. When all was in readiness, an epi- 
demic of cholera broke out in the city. Among the first 
victims was the redoubtable Colonel Vizcarra. One can 
imagine the depths of Ramon's despair. In addition to his 
grief at the loss of the only father he had ever known, there 
was the awful fear that this calamity might be the ven- 
geance of an offended God. Dona Ana Maria and all the other 
pious women of the family also regarded the tragedy as a 
manifestation of the Divine Will and urged Ramon to think 
no more of renouncing his calling. There was nothing for him 
to do but to turn back to his studies. Colonel Vizcarra had 
left but little money ; so he could not go on with his military 
schooling had he been so inclined. He foresaw that the day 



272 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

was not far off when he would have to help to care for his 
sister and repay some of her former kindness to him. Slowly 
he became resigned to the inevitable. 15 

As the years passed and he grew wiser, he began to 
realize that he could probably be of greater service to his 
country as a priest than as a soldier. In 1832, the Rt. Rev. 
Jose Laureano de Zubiria, the new Bishop of the Durango 
diocese which included New Mexico, chose Padre Juan Felipe 
Ortiz, cousin to Ramon, as vicar general. 16 From these two 
men, Ramon learned the deplorable condition of the church 
in the province since the end of the Franciscan Custodia, 
and the great need for zealous priests to restore the dilapi- 
dated churches and missions and to re-arouse the zeal of the 
faithful. 17 In 1830, there were less than a dozen pastors to 
minister to more than forty thousand souls. 18 Ramon felt a 
challenge in the accounts of the struggle of the church to 
provide priestly ministrations, particularly for the "pobres" 
and the Indians, and became fired with impatience to do his 
part in alleviating their misfortunes. He had not long to 
wait. Because he had distinguished himself both in scholastic 
aptitude and religious zeal, a papal dispensation was ob- 
tained permitting his ordination at the age of twenty-one. 19 
His first assignment was a small, primitive mining village 
in Mexico where his parishioners were mostly Indians and 
"mestizos." 20 To a young man of gentle birth, reared as 
Ramon had been in an atmosphere of breeding and culture, 
the life into which he was so suddenly thrust must have been 
very trying. There seems to be no record of these next few 
years, but it is evident that they taught him two things which 
stood him in good stead throughout his life. He learned to 
understand and sympathize with the "pobres," and he ac- 
quired a certain skill in ministering to bodily as well as to 
spiritual needs. From his Indian parishioners he learned 
the efficacy of many of their simple remedies and the use of 

15. Interview with Mrs. Najera. 

16. Prince, Concise History . . . , p. 155. 

17. H. H. Bancroft, Arizona and New Mexico, 15SO-18S8 (San Francisco, The 
History Co., 1889) p. 290. 

18. Prince, op. eft., p. 18 ; Bancroft, op. cit., p. 342. 

19. Interview with Mrs. Flores. 

20. Interview with Mrs. Flores. 



RAMON ORTIZ 273 

"yerbas" to cure ills when no doctor's prescriptions could be 
secured. With this knowledge and the aid of a small hand- 
book called " Dr. 's Method" he helped many a poor 

sufferer to regain his health; when he was an old man, he 
took great delight in proving to his Paris-trained physician- 
nephew that the primitive methods sometimes succeeded 
where more scientific measures failed. 21 

By the time he was twenty-five, Ramon had served his 
apprenticeship, and was ready for a position of responsi- 
bility in a larger parish. Ecclesiastical records show that on 
January 1, 1838, Padre Ramon Ortiz first administered the 
sacrament of baptism in Paso del Norte, as "cura" of the 
mission, Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. 22 This mission was 
in good repair, as it had been in constant use since the Fran- 
ciscans had built it some hundred and seventy-five years be- 
fore. 23 It had been one of the first churches to be secular- 
ized, 24 and was also one of the few to draw a regular stipend 
from the Mexican government. 

In Paso del Norte, Ramon found a comfortable house 
awaiting him, and, at last, he could send for his sisters, 
Dona Ana Maria and Dona Rosario. 25 No sooner had he 
settled down to a life of comparative comfort than bad news 
arrived from Josefa, who was still in Sonora. Her husband 
had fallen a victim to Apache arrows, leaving her and her 
five small children unprotected in that wild and savage land. 
The young priest immediately set out on the dangerous trip 
to Sonora. After many days of irksome travel, he succeeded 
in rescuing the young widow and her children and bringing 
them safe and sound to his home. 26 

With such a large addition to his family, the need for a 



21. Interview with Mrs. Najera. Dr. Mariano Samaniego was trained at the 
Sorbonne and knew Pasteur personally. L. A. V. 

22. Church Records of Juarez, Libra de Bautismos, 1830-1840. 

23. John Russell Bartlett, Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in 
Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora and Chihuahua, connected with the United States 
and Mexican boundary Commission, during the years 1850 to 1853 (New York, D. 
Appleton & Co., 1854) I, 190. 

24. Bancroft, Arizona and New Mexico, p. 342. 

25. Rosario was commonly called Rosalita. See Susan Shelby Magoffin, Down the 
Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico, 1846-1847. Edited by Stella M. Drumm. Yale Univer- 
sity Press, 1926. 

26. Interview with Mrs. Flores. 



274 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

new home became imperative. Much as he loved the com- 
panionship of Josefa and the chatter of her brood, there was 
no chance for prayer and meditation, for conferences and 
study, with so many people about. As material and labor 
could be had almost for the asking, it was not long before the 
little rectory became a spacious and comfortable dwelling, 
the largest in the village. 27 The house was of adobe, like all 
houses of Mexico, but the inside walls of the principal rooms 
were whitened with calcined "yezo" and the floors were 
carefully coated with soft mud, which hardened into a dry 
smooth covering, over which Dona Ana could spread her 
few treasured carpets. There were two patios, with rooms 
built in hollow squares around them. Opening into the first 
patio were the reception and living rooms, the guest bed- 
rooms, and the pastor's little apartment. A narrow "sala" 
led into the second patio, which was paved with cobble- 
stones, and often served as an outdoor family dining-room 
in warm weather. There was a wall, Moorish fashion, in the 
center, and the kitchen, the "comedor" and the bedrooms for 
the women and children surrounded it. Back of the second 
patio was the corral for the poultry and animals, and around 
the corral the quarters for the "domesticos." Behind the 
house, an orchard and vineyard covered several acres, ex- 
tending as far as the "acequia" which furnished the principal 
water supply for the hacienda. 28 

Padre Ortiz was hospitable almost to a fault, feeling that 
so much luxury was forgivable for a priest only if it were 
shared impartially among all who might need food or refuge. 
Dona Ana Maria was a gracious and capable "patrona" and 
did all she could to make even the most humble of visitors 
welcome and comfortable. But so generous was the good 
Padre with his possessions that her patience was often sorely 
tried. It was difficult to keep a well-stocked larder, for no 
sooner had she laid in her supplies than Father Ortiz would 
find a dozen hungry mouths to feed. The wine from the vine- 
yard, the fruit from the orchard, the milk from the cows and 



27. Present site of the Plaza de Toros. L. A. V. 

28. Interview with Mrs. Najera. The "Acequia del Pueblo," still in existence. 
L. A. V. 



RAMON ORTIZ 275 

goats, the vegetables from the garden, as well as the precious 
coffee and sugar which could be secured only when a wagon 
train arrived from Chihuahua, these all became the com- 
mon property of the parishioners. Josefa, who personally 
cared for the Padre's quarters, complained that it was im- 
possible to keep his bed in proper order, as it was no 
uncommon occurrence for him to take the linen and blankets 
off his own freshly-made bed to carry them to some ailing 
member of his flock who had no covering for his "colchon." 
Such household equipment was at a premium in those days, 
with no shops nearer than Santa Fe or Chihuahua, and the 
Padre's gifts meant that he often had to sleep on a bare 
mattress until more bedding could be secured. 29 

As there was no inn in the village, Padre Ortiz opened his 
house to the many traders and travellers who arrived in 
Paso del Norte and needed a few nights lodging. The fame of 
the Ortiz hospitality spread throughout the Southwest. It 
was an unforgettable experience for a weary and thirsty 
traveller, who had journeyed many miles over the dry sandy 
wastes, to arrive at the fertile little settlement on the Rio 
Grande, and to find a genial host, a clean bed, a good meal, 
and a bottle of the palatable "vino del pais" awaiting him. 
The few who have left written records of their adventures 
on the Chihuahua trail in the early nineteenth century never 
fail to mention with gratitude the hospitality of the "cura" 
of Paso del Norte. 

In the pursuance of his arduous clerical duties, Padre 
Ortiz was indefatigable. There were more than five thousand 
souls in his parish proper, and a few thousand more in small 
settlements scattered up and down the Rio Grande. 30 Fre- 
quently he made trips on horseback, or on his favorite mule, 
to these small missions to say mass, and at every hour of the 
day or night he was at the beck and call of any who needed 
the services of a priest. 31 He never stopped to consider per- 
sonal safety or convenience when summoned to minister to 



29. Interview with Mrs. Najera. 

30. Bartlett, op. cit., p. 192. 

81. Cleofas Calleros, San Jose de Concordia. Leaflet. Reprint from World Newt, 
El Paso, Texas, June 4, 1932. 



276 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

the dying. A fifteen mile trip in the dead of night, over rough 
country, where unfriendly Apaches lurked behind every 
bush and where frequent sandstorms made the going even 
more hazardous, was no uncommon occurrence in the life of 
this intrepid missionary. His untiring zeal for their welfare 
and his endless unselfishness endeared him to rich and poor 
alike. There are hundreds of the "pobres" still living who 
remember his kindness with gratitude. Even today you have 
only to mention the name of Padre Ortiz to any old Juarez 
settler in order to see his face light up and to hear a burst 
of enthusiastic praise. One old woman, whom I met quite by 
chance and afterwards went to visit in her one-room adobe 
dwelling, met my query about the "cura" with a delighted 
"Si, si, senora. The good Padre himself got up out of a warm 
bed at midnight to marry my husband and me and without 
grumbling, either." Why she chose such an hour for the 
nuptials, I was too discreet to inquire, but it was evident that 
she still felt a warm gratitude to the Padre for his assistance. 

There were reasons other than his charitable nature and 
his lavish hospitality that made Padre Ortiz the most popu- 
lar man in his community. He was personally a fine figure 
of a man, with a frank, handsome, intelligent face, and a 
well-knit athletic figure. He had a certain ingenuous charm 
of manner which seemed to attract people of all stations in 
life, although he was rather quiet and reserved in the pres- 
ence of strangers. At home, he enjoyed the comradeship of 
his young grand-nieces and grand-nephews immensely, and 
he joked with them or listened to their tales of woe with 
equal sympathy. The children called him "Padrino" (God- 
father) at first, which Concepcion, the youngest, soon changed 
to an affectionate "Papanino," and this nickname clung to 
him the rest of his life. He is still "Papanino" in the memory 
of the few surviving relatives. 32 

His one great love other than his church and his family 
was his country of Mexico. He was intensely patriotic and 
had an intimate knowledge of the political affairs of his 
country. When he was at school, Durango had been one of 



32. Interview with Mrs. Najera. 



RAMON ORTIZ 277 

the hot-beds of the revolution, 33 and the boys had had many 
dissensions and debates over the rebellion. His relatives in 
New Mexico were all closely concerned with the formation of 
government in the new republic, and were intensely patri- 
otic, also. 34 The war with Texas and the uprisings in New 
Mexico he had watched with dismay, for he sensed, along 
with the intelligentsia of his time, the approaching trouble 
with the United States and the danger of an American inva- 
sion. From the letters of his cousins in Santa Fe, from the 
lips of the traders en route to Chihuahua, and from the 
couriers, he kept in touch with the affairs of state, and was 
well-informed of the latest developments in the relations 
between the two republics. He had many good friends among 
the Americans, but he resented American encroachment in 
Mexican territory and American interference in govern- 
mental affairs. 

Among his intimate friends in Paso del Norte was Don 
J. M. Elias y Gonzales, commandante of the presidio, at 
whose house he was a frequent visitor. 35 Here he met many 
distinguished people, all the ranking military and the im- 
portant "politicos" from both the province and the interior. 
It was from General Elias that he had first news of the cap- 
ture of the Texas expedition under General McLeod and of 
the expected arrival of the prisoners in Paso del Norte. Thus 
it happened that he was present when the little band 
marched in. If he had felt a natural patriotic satisfaction 
at the frustration of what he regarded as a Texan plot and 
an armed invasion, that sentiment was quickly replaced by 
the surge of Christian indignation that the first sight of the 
pitiful little band aroused in him. Captain Damacio Salazar, 
who had been in charge of the captives, had treated them 
with unwarranted cruelty, had murdered those who were not 
able to keep up on the march, and had starved and robbed 
and beaten the others, until they were more dead than alive. 36 



33. Twitchell, Leading Facts . . ., II, 7. 

34. Ibid., p. 10, gives list of "diputados" of New Mexico from 1822-1846. List 
mentions seven relatives of Ramon Ortiz. 

35. George Wilkins Kendall, Narrative of an Expedition Across the Great South- 
western Prairies from Texas to Santa Fe (London, David Bogue, 1845) II, 37. 

36. Thomas Falconer, Texas, Santa Fe Expedition (New York, Dauber & Pine 
Bookshops, Inc., 1930) p. 98; Kendall, Narrative . . . , I, 490-568. 



278 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

When Salazar reported with his charges to Elias at El Paso, 
the General's wrath and indignation at this condition 
equalled that of the Padre. He censured the captain severely 
and eventually sent him back to New Mexico in disgrace. 
General Elias set about alleviating the sufferings of the little 
army at once. Cakes and chocolate, followed by a "sumptuous 
supper" were served, a three-day rest was ordered, and 
Generals McLeod and Navarro were taken home by General 
Elias, as his personal guests. 37 The prisoners were kept under 
guard, but were allowed many privileges. Padre Ortiz was 
given permission to do what he could for the men and to take 
whom he would to his home, provided he would be personally 
responsible for their safe return to the presidio. As all one- 
hundred and eighty of the men were in dire need, the task of 
looking after only their most pressing wants was a pro- 
digious one, but the young priest was equal to the occasion. 
Dona Ana was acquainted with the situation, and she im- 
mediately summoned the women of the household and set 
them all to work making shirts and underclothing. The 
servants were ordered to haul water from the acequia for 
innumerable baths, and to prepare all available food. The 
Padre also appealed to his friends for assistance, and the 
response was overwhelming shoes and clothing, medicine 
and bandages, food, shaving and bathing facilities were soon 
forthcoming for the men for whom he could not care per- 
sonally. His own home was a bustle of activity from morning 
until night, while "los Tejanos" repaired the ravages of the 
past seven disastrous weeks. Ref ugio, Josefa's oldest daugh- 
ter, never tired of telling her children in later years of the 
number of stitches she had taken and the tubs of water she 
had heated and the glasses of wine she had poured for her 
uncle's numerous guests. 38 

Among the Texans was a young journalist, George W. 
Kendall, one of the editors of the New Orleans Picayune, and 
for him Padre Ortiz conceived a great liking. In his fascinat- 
ing Narrative of the Texan-Santa Fe Expedition, pub- 



37. Ibid., I. 570. 

38. Interview with Mrs. Najera. 

39. Op. cit. 



RAMON ORTIZ 279 

lished the following year in London, Kendall writes at some 
length of their meeting and subsequent friendship: 

On one occasion he (Ortiz) asked me if I would not be pleased 
to see the town and visit him at his residence, some mile or two distant 
from the house of General Elias. On my accepting his invitation, he 
sent a servant for one of his horses for my use. The servant soon 
returned with a noble animal, richly caparisoned, and the young cura 
mounting his mule, we rode over the beautiful town. . . . Arrived at 
the residence of my kind friend, a neat dwelling surrounded by trees 
and vines, he called a servant to take charge of the animals, and at 
once led the way into the interior. Here I found Captain Caldwell and 
a number of our officers, comfortably enjoying the hospitalities of 
the young priest, and loud in their praises of his kind attentions and 
exceeding liberality; for they had all been provided with coat and 
clean clothing by their charitable entertainer. 

To myself he was even more unremitting in his offices of attention 
and kindness. During a visit of some two hours, young Ortiz appeared 
to be studying my every want. In addition to an excellent dinner, with 
wine of his own making, which he gave me, he invited me into his 
private study, where a bath was provided. Hardly had I partaken of 
the luxury before a girl brought me clean flannel and linen throughout 
and when I say that for the previous seven weeks I had had no 
change of clothing, and that vermin had taken forcible possession of 
all my ragged and dirty vestments, the luxury of once more arraying 
myself in clean linen will be appreciated. But the liberality of Ortiz 
did not stop there, for notwithstanding I told him I had a sufficiency 
and obstinately refused taking it until further resistance would have 
been rude and almost insulting, he still pressed a sum of money into 
my hands. Towards sunset, the cura, having ordered the same horse 
to be again saddled for me, we left his quiet and hospitable mansion 
for the residence of General Elias; and if I had before had reason to 
thank Ortiz for his kindness, I soon had still greater cause for grati- 
tude for the opportunity he gave me of making Salazar completely and 
perfectly unhappy. He told me that I might openly expose any jewelry 
I had saved as there was no further danger of being robbed. Conse- 
quently, I displayed my breast pin and watch and chain, and on the 
ride back to Elias' through the principal plaza, I saw Salazar in front 
of a small tienda, conversing with friends. On the pretext of purchasing 
a handkerchief, I dismounted and swaggered past the avaricious Sala- 
zar, jingling the gold coins in my pockets. Ortiz, who was holding my 
horse, was aware of my object in thus "showing off" before Salazar, but 
not a word did he say. 

We departed from El Paso at noon the next day. As we were on 
the point of leaving the house of General Elias to join the main party, 
the servant of young Ortiz arrived with a horse, saddle and bridle for 



280 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

my use as far as Chihuahua, a distance of nearly three hundred miles. 
Of this unexpected charity I had not before received the least inti- 
mation; nor did the liberality of the incomparable cura end there. He 
ordered his domestics to bake two or three cart-loads of excellent bread 
for use of the prisoners on the road, and sent his own team of oxen to 
transport it. To those most in need, he gave articles of clothing and 
imitating the charitable example of their pastor, the citizens were very 
liberal in their gifts. 

Seldom have I parted from a friend with more real regret than 
with Ortiz, and as I shook him by the hand for the last time, and bade 
him perhaps an eternal adieu, I thought if ever a noble heart beat in 
man it was in the breast of this young generous priest. Professing a 
different religion from mine, and one, too, that I had been taught to 
believe inculcated a jealous intolerance towards those of any other 
faith, I could expect from him neither favor nor regard. How surprised 
was I, then, to find him liberal to a fault, constant in his attentions and 
striving to make my situation as agreeable as circumstances would 
permit. 40 

It is rather ironical that the book which lauded the good 
priest so unreservedly should have helped to aggravate the 
war between the United States and Mexico which he had 
long feared. Again his patriotism and his duty as a Christian 
were to come into conflict, and again Christian charity was 
to be victorious. When the news reached him of the cowardly 
treachery of Governor Armijo, who had delivered New Mex- 
ico to the United States without allowing a single shot to 
be fired, he was naturally very indignant. He sought to incite 
his patriotic countrymen to avenge this insult to the honor 
and courage of Mexicans, and he became actively engaged 
in promoting armed resistance to the branch of the United 
States army under Colonel Doniphan which was then head- 
ing towards Chihuahua. 41 It was largely due to his influence 
that the Pasenos rose in arms to meet the Americans at 
Brazito ; and it was he who kept up a constant communica- 
tion with Chihuahua to advise the government there of the 
strength of enemy resources. 42 A courier was despatched 
by the Padre to advise the governor of the unhappy outcome 



40. Kendall, Narrative . . ., II, 38-45. 

41. W. E. Connelley, ed., J. T. Hughes, Doniphan's Expedition and the Conquest 
of New Mexico and California (Topeka, Kansas, The Author, 1907) pp. 97, 391. 

42. George R. Gibson, Journal of a Soldier under Kearney and Doniphan (Glen- 
dale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1935) p. 324. 



A % 

RAMON ORTIZ 281 

of the encounter at Brazito, but he was stopped by Colonel 
Doniphan's men, who thus learned the names of the chief 
instigators of the resistance. Colonel Doniphan ordered the 
arrest of Padre Ortiz and his colleagues, Srs. Pino, Jaquez, 
and Belundis. 43 During the parley that followed, Doniphan, 
like so many others, was struck with the personality and 
intelligence of the priest, and offered him his freedom if he 
would give his word of honor to cease his activities against 
the United States army. Padre Ortiz answered frankly and 
honestly that he could give no such promise, and he explained 
that while he had nothing but kindly feelings to the Ameri- 
can as a race, his duty to his country compelled him to do all 
he could to bring about the defeat of her enemies. The Colonel 
was thus obliged to keep him under surveillance. Among 
Doniphan's men, however, were many Irish Catholics, and 
when Padre Ortiz learned that it had been many weeks since 
they had heard mass or received the sacraments, he re- 
quested to be allowed to look after their spiritual needs. His 
priestly conscience could not bear the idea of even an enemy 
soldier going into battle without all the moral support his 
religion could give him. Permission was granted for him to 
circulate among the soldiers at will, and to say mass for them 
in the Mission. 44 The troops remained in El Paso from 
December 26, 1846, to February 8, 1847, and by the time 
orders were received to march on to Chihuahua, the Padre 
had many friends among the men, including the Colonel 
himself. Doniphan felt, however, that some assurance should 
be made for the safety of the soldiers whom he was obliged 
to leave in charge of the post at Paso del Norte and for the 
traders who were passing along the Santa Fe trail. Accord- 
ingly, he decided to take Father Ortiz, Pino, Jaquez, and 
Belundis, with him as hostages. He issued a warning to the 
Pasenos that if any depredations were committed upon the 
United States citizens either in El Paso or Chihuahua, his 
prisoners would be put to death. 45 When the little army set 
out from El Paso, the Padre was allowed to travel in his own 

43. Connelley, Doniphan's Expedition . . . , pp. 90, 97 ; Gibson, . . . Soldier 
Under Kearney . . ., p. 324 ; Magoffin, Down the Santa Fe Trail, p. 209. 

44. Luis Alfonso Velarde. 

45. Connelley, Doniphan's Expedition . . . , pp. 97, 397. 



282 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

carriage, which he had amply provisioned with food, water, 
and other necessities, knowing only too well the dry sandy 
wastes over which they would have to travel and the lack 
of supplies along the way. On the trip he held frequent con- 
versations with the Colonel, warning him that the Mexicans 
had several thousand trained soldiers guarding the capital of 
Chihuahua, and urging him not to expose his handful of ill- 
equipped troops to certain slaughter. Colonel Doniphan him- 
self was rather fearful of the outcome since he had heard 
that General Wool, who was to have joined forces with him, 
had abandoned his march upon Chihuahua. 46 However, he 
gave no inkling of his apprehensions to his prisoner. He dis- 
cussed the future of Mexico with Ortiz, questioning him as to 
his opinion of Guizot's proposal to place Louis Philippe on 
the throne of the republic in order to preserve the balance of 
power. "Such an ideal is too preposterous to deserve serious 
consideration," replied the priest. "The Mexicans, especially 
those living in the northern states, would treat the proposi- 
tion, if made to them seriously, with indignation and con- 
tempt. Mexicans, not less than Americans, love liberty; 
Mexico would rather be conquered by her sister Republic 
and lose her national existence than submit to a foreign 
prince." 47 

Before the regiment had advanced more than seventy-five 
miles across the dry Jornada, the water problem became 
acute. Many of the men had no canteens and had sought to 
provide a little supply of water by filling their sabre-sheaths. 
This was soon exhausted, and both the men and the beasts 
were suffering from thirst. Food was also scarce. They had 
only the most meager commissary and could find little game 
along the way. Padre Ortiz saw that the little army might 
defeat itself from lack of proper provisioning, but the great 
charity of his heart would not let him endure the sight of 
men, many of them his friends, suffering from thirst and 
falling by the wayside. He brought out his "ollas" which he 
was carrying for his own use and distributed the precious 
liquid among the soldiers, although they were still many 

46. Ibid., p. 396. 

47. Hughes Diary, reprinted in ibid., p. 399. 



RAMON ORTIZ 283 

miles from the next possible supply. Providentially, a heavy 
downpour the following day set the mountain torrents raging 
and assured the water supply for the remainder of the trip. 48 

When they were within sight of the enemy near the 
Sacramento river, Padre Ortiz made a last desperate plea to 
Colonel Doniphan to save himself and his men by surrender- 
ing to the superior, well-entrenched Mexican forces who, he 
honestly believed, would make short work of the Americans. 
Doniphan only laughed and replied that he was confident of 
victory. 49 The night before the battle, the carriages were put 
in the center of a corral formed by the supply wagons, and 
guards were placed around them to see that they did not 
escape to communicate with the enemy. One of these guards 
was a young man called Odon Guitar, later a Confederate 
general, who had joined the army for a lark. He and Ortiz 
struck up a friendship and enjoyed a lively conversation 
while waiting for the excitement to start. Guitar pretended 
to be highly pleased with his assignment in the rear of the 
army with a congenial companion, saying that he felt a little 
squeamish about killing men towards whom he had no real 
resentment. To which Ortiz replied : "Young man, I perceive 
that you had in mind a good time when you enlisted, and, 
while you are not so intent on picking quarrels with the 
enemy, I have no doubt of you fighting well if you have to." 
That he was right in his surmise was proved the next day 
when the fighting was at the highest. Guitar abandoned his 
guard duty and plunged bravely into the fray. Many years 
later, Guitar was in El Paso and remembered the good Padre. 
He made inquiries, and learning that Father Ortiz was still 
"cura," he went to call on him at the Mission. The Padre was 
very old and almost blind, but he recognized the Missourian, 
and they re-lived the battle of Sacramento and their night 
of talk and forebodings. 50 

The details of the battle of Sacramento have been told 
many times how on that Sunday morning, February 28, 
1847, less than a thousand ragged and worn American sol- 



48. Ibid., p. 400. 

49. Ibid., p. 406, note. 

50. Ibid., p. 407. 



284 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

diers engaged in a hand-to-hand fight for three and one-half 
hours with picked Mexican troops and completely routed 
them. According to eye-witnesses, at the beginning of the 
fighting, the Padre and his fellow-prisoners stood on the 
seats of their carriages, eager to see what was going on, but 
as the fighting increased and the casualties grew, Father 
Ortiz fell to his knees, rosary in hand, and prayed fervently 
for the wounded soldiers and for victory. That night his task 
was a sad one. Several hundred of his countrymen lay 
wounded on the battlefield, and all night he worked among 
them, easing their pains as best he could or whispering 
words of absolution and consolation into dying ears. 51 

Meanwhile, back in El Paso, the situation at the Ortiz 
hacienda was a strange one. Several American traders with 
their wagon trains had followed in the wake of Colonel Doni- 
phan's army and among them was Samuel Magoffin and his 
young bride, Susan Shelby. Susan, a young Kentuckian of 
gentle birth, was unused to hardships, and by the time they 
had reached El Paso del Norte, she was in no condition for 
further travel, at least until the going became less hazard- 
ous. When he heard of the Magoffin's dilemma, Padre Ortiz, 
as always, had let his charitable principles outweigh his 
patriotic fervor, and he offered them the hospitality of his 
home. He was fully aware that Samuel's brother, James 
Magoffin, was a dangerous enemy to Mexico and was then 
in custody at Chihuahua; and the Padre, himself, was a 
prisoner of the Americans. The Magoffins accepted the gen- 
erous invitation gratefully, Samuel having known before- 
hand of the comforts of the hacienda and the kindness of its 
inmates. The women of the Ortiz household, in their inner- 
most hearts, must have resented harboring the friends of 
their brother's captors, but their sense of hospitality toward 
a guest in their home prevented them from betraying even 
the slightest coolness. Susan, who had never known any 
Mexican women before and had felt a strong antipathy 
toward the whole race, was completely captivated by her 
hostesses. Before many days had passed, she was on the most 
intimate terms with them, borrowing their recipes, copying 

61. F. S. Edwards, Campaign in New Mexico, quoted in Connelley, p. 426. 



RAMON ORTIZ 285 

their dresses, and going with them regularly, staunch Protes- 
tant though she was, to Sunday mass. 52 She confided to her 
diary that Dona Ana Maria was a "muy Sefiora" in her 
estimation, evidently intending it as highest praise ; and the 
well-bred young daughters of Josefa Refugio, Adelaida 

and Concepcion aroused her warmest admiration. 53 The 

days, however, were anxious ones for all of them, as the con- 
flicting reports regarding the outcome of the battle drifted 
into Paso del Norte. When the news favored the Mexicans, 
Ana Maria carefully concealed her elations ; and when word 
of an American victory arrived, it was Susan who "would not 
say one word to hurt the feelings of the family." 54 

Colonel Doniphan released Padre Ortiz from custody as 
soon as the troops were safely in Chihuahua. The good man 
lost no time in hastening back to his home where he knew his 
anxious sisters were awaiting him. However, it was nine long 
days before Susan could write in her journal : "Well, joy to 
the family, el senor Cura has at last returned ; arrived this 
morning about ten o'clock. The news of the battle is as we 
last heard the battle lasted only thirty minutes, with not 
more than seven to fourteen killed on either side." 55 In view 
of the official statements that not less than three hundred 
Mexicans were killed and five hundred wounded, while the 
Americans lost only three men, the Padre's report of the 
battle of Sacramento seems to need some explanation. 56 Pos- 
sibly he was so chagrined over the outcome that he wanted to 
keep the news from being spread about, but it is much more 
likely that his version was only an attempt to adapt a har- 
rowing story to feminine ears. 

It was fully a year later that the last battle of the war 
was fought. In the meantime, Padre Ortiz had been doing 
all in his power to keep his fellow-citizens from despairing of 
victory. After the battle of Santa Cruz, he was obliged to 
concede defeat, but he still hoped to save the citizens of New 



52. Magoffin, Down the Santa Fe Trail, p. 202. 

53. Ibid., p. 20 ; Dr. Gabriel Samaniego. Adelaida Samaniego de Velarde was my 
grandmother. L. A. V. 

54. Magoffin, Down the Santa Fe Trail, p. 216. 

55. Ibid., p. 217. 

56. Connelley, Doniphan's Expedition, p. 415 ; p. 422, note. 



286 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Mexico from bowing to a conqueror's yoke. Accordingly, he 
announced his candidacy for the next congress at Mexico 
City, and was elected almost unanimously. 57 Once among the 
legislators, he made an impassioned but losing fight against 
the terms of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ceded 
New Mexico to the United States. His work was not entirely 
in vain, however. Due to his eloquence and fervor, he was 
appointed, in 1849, commissioner to New Mexico in charge 
of carrying out that part of the treaty which allowed a choice 
of citizenship to the New Mexicans. 58 This task was much to 
his liking. 

He went from town to town exhorting the inhabitants to 
retain their allegiance to Mexico and to move to Mexican 
territory as soon as possible. The government had promised 
to finance the removal of all families who wished to leave 
New Mexico, allowing twelve dollars for each child and 
twenty-five dollars for each adult. So successful was Father 
Ortiz, at first, that in one town he visited nine hundred of its 
one thousand citizens agreed to go, and he estimated that the 
number of abdications would eventually result in seriously 
depopulating New Mexico. He was unduly optimistic, how- 
ever. Only $25,000 had been advanced by his government, 
and when that was exhausted there was difficulty in obtain- 
ing another grant. Also, the United States authorities in the 
territory had become alarmed and made it increasingly diffi- 
cult for the residents to sign the formal affidavit of citizen- 
ship. Padre Ortiz was requested to leave, and sub-agents 
were appointed in his stead, but their privileges, too, were 
suspended when it became clear that the desire for emigra- 
tion was wide-spread. Padre Ortiz wrote to Governor Maas 
complaining of his treatment, 59 but by the time the Congress 
of Mexico was ready to act, the New Mexicans, due to finan- 
cial and property right difficulties, had lost their first enthus- 
iasm and many were ready to retract their declaration to 
leave the territory. Altogether, possibly less than three 
thousand individuals, many of them wealthy "hacendados," 

67. Interview with Mrs. Najera. 

58. Bancroft. Arizona and New Mexico, pp. 472-478. 

69. Pedro B. Pino, Noticias Historicaa (Mexico, 1849) pp. 92-98, cited in 
Bancroft, Arizona and New Mexico, p. 473. 



RAMON ORTIZ 287 

had withdrawn their "peones" and possessions to Chihuahua 
by 1850, but even this was a considerable number from a 
total population of about sixty thousand, including Indians. 60 
After this final disappointment, it is surprising that the 
patriotic priest did not turn into an embittered and disillu- 
sioned man, but he seems to have accepted his defeat with 
Christian fortitude. He returned to his parish in time to 
receive Bishop Zubiria, who was just returning from a visit 
to New Mexico, and to arrange services at the Mission in his 
honor. John Russell Bartlett, first United States boundary 
commissioner, had also just arrived in El Paso, and Padre 
Ortiz and the Bishop made him a friendly visit to enlist his 
aid in preventing dispossession of the Mexican settlers on 
the Texas side of the Rio Grande. 61 The Americans in the 
vicinity were not proving generous victors, and many of 
them greatly annoyed the Mexican population by determined 
efforts to despoil them of their property. This was done by 
the use of Texas "head-rights" (grants of lands, usually 
640 acres, to those who served in the war) located on prop- 
erty which had been for a century or more in the quiet 
possession of the old Spanish colonists and their descendants. 
The latter, to avoid litigation and, sometimes, in fear of their 
lives, abandoned their homes and sought refuge on the Mexi- 
can side of the river. Mr. Bartlett received the visitors sym- 
pathetically, served them as ample a collation as his meager 
commissary allowed, and later made a faithful investigation 
of the situation, finding matters as had been represented to 
him by the clergymen. 62 He reported the situation to Wash- 
ington, but it is doubtful if many of the unfortunate Mexi- 
cans ever received compensation for stolen lands. 

The entrance of the Americans into El Paso brought 
other seeds of discord into the hitherto peaceful valley, and 
a strong feeling of animosity grew up between the Spanish 
and the American born population. Padre Ortiz frequently 
found himself forced to assume the role of peacemaker to 
prevent serious quarrels between his ignorant, child-like 

60. Mexico Mem. ReL, 1849, p. 14, and 1850, p. 22, cited in Bancroft, op. cit., 473 ; 
Prince, Concise History . . ., p. 148. 

61. Bartlett, Personal Narrative .... p. 148. 

62. Ibid., pp. 212, 214. 



288 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

proteges and the new arrivals, whom the Mexicans regarded 
as unwelcome usurpers. Those living on United States 
territory could not reconcile themselves to the changes which 
the new government necessarily entailed or to the abandon- 
ment of age-old prerogatives. This feeling of resentment 
flared into active resistance when an American named 
Howard filed claim to the Salt Lakes, 63 which for many years 
had been a source of revenue to the Mexicans of Paso del 
Norte and its surrounding territory. In the seventeenth 
century the Spanish crown had granted the Guadalupe Salt 
Lakes to Paso del Norte and neighboring towns to be con- 
sidered common property ; and in 1824 the Mexican govern- 
ment conceded to those same towns the use and produce of 
the newly-discovered Lakes of San Andres. By the treaty of 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States had promised to re- 
spect all private land-titles to lands situated within the 
boundary ceded by the Mexicans to the United States ; thus 
the Mexicans who had become American citizens, as well as 
those on the Mexican side, considered themselves in posses- 
sion of the same rights and privileges as had been granted 
them by Spain and Mexico. 64 About 1860, a road was built 
to the Guadalupe Lakes by popular subscription, and soon 
many Pasefios from both sides of the Rio Grande had worked 
up a profitable trade, hauling salt to Chihuahua and other 
Mexican towns. When, in the 1870's, they were suddenly dis- 
possessed of the free use of the Lakes and were informed 
that henceforth they would have to pay an "Americano" for 
every load of salt carried away, the Mexicans were first 
bewildered and then openly rebellious. Padre Ortiz, who felt 
that his countrymen were being abused, but who was intel- 
ligent enough to realize that Judge Howard was legally 
within his rights, was hard put to calm the seething Pasenos. 
His efforts were powerless to prevent an uprising, and much 
blood was shed and lasting animosities engendered before a 
peaceful settlement was reached. In 1878, the United States 
government made official inquiry into the source of the 



63. 45th cong., 2nd sess., H. of R., Ex. Doc., No. 84, p. 67. 

64. Ibid., "The Salt Lake War," Judge Louis Cardis was murdered by Howard, 
the "Americano" mentioned above, because of his defense of Mexican rights. L. A. V. 



RAMON ORTIZ 289 

trouble, and Padre Ortiz, as a highly respected citizen of 
long standing, was called upon by General Hatch to give 
testimony. He wrote a lengthy letter in Spanish to the Gen- 
eral, who was in charge of the Board of Inquiry, explaining 
the attitude of his countrymen and the basis of their claims 
to the Salt Lakes. This letter, which is reproduced in full in 
the Congressional Record, 64a gives an interesting insight into 
the difficulties that beset the growth of this border city with 
its intermixture of two races and two civilizations. 

This letter seems to be the last recorded account of Padre 
Ortiz' active concern in civil and political affairs. Changes 
were taking place rapidly in the Mexican government, in his 
parish, and in his home life. Dona Ana Maria and Dona 
Rosario died, leaving Josefa as "patrona" of the hacienda, 
which was fast decreasing in prosperity. The Pasenos, who 
had always been an agricultural people, were becoming im- 
poverished by the unprecedented drouths that were occurr- 
ing more and more frequently. No longer did the Rio Grande 
overflow each spring, fertilizing their vineyards and 
orchards and the acequias ran dry for weeks at a time. 
Apache Indian depredations increased; the loss of horses 
and cattle assumed serious proportions. 65 Many were forced 
from their "rancheros" and thus lost their means of liveli- 
hood. According to an article in the El Paso Daily Times 
(Feb. 15, 1896) , the city of Juarez and its surrounding towns 
had lost more than one-half their former population in less 
than twenty years. The Ortiz lands suffered along with the 
rest. The vines which had so long furnished the famous 
"vino del pais" withered and died; the fig trees ceased to 
bear ; the cornfields and bean patches had to be abandoned. 

However, material affairs gave the good Padre little con- 
cern. As long as there was enough money to keep his prom- 
ising young grand-nephews in school and a roof over his 
and Josef a's heads, he was content. By 1860, the three grand- 
nieces had all married well. Ref ugio, the eldest, was the wife 
of a prosperous Santa Fe trader, Daguerre ; Adelaida's hus- 
band was a well-known merchant of Paso del Norte; and 



64a. 45 Cong., 2 Sess., Hse. Ex. Doc. 84, p. 67. 
65. Bartlett, op. cit., p. 152. 



290 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Concepcion had married Ynocente Ochoa, one of the most 
prominent citizens and a close friend of the Padre. 66 He was 
proud of his adopted children, but Mariano, the elder 
nephew, who was studying medicine, was the apple of his 
eye. Remembering his own boyhood disappointments, he had 
made no attempt to influence unduly the choice of the boys' 
professions, but he was overjoyed when Mariano decided to 
become a physician. He determined to give him the best 
education possible, and he carried out his plan. Mariano was 
sent to Mexico for his first degree, and eventually to Paris 
for special training. He returned home to make an enviable 
name for himself and to become the progenitor of some dis- 
tinguished offspring, including a grandson, Ramon Novarro 
(Samaniego) of motion-picture renown. 67 

Political and governmental changes in Mexico were not 
so much to his liking. His Hidalgo blood revolted at the idea 
of Benito Juarez, a half-breed and an enemy to the Church, 
at the head of the government ; but even more did he resent 
the unwarranted usurpation of Maximilian and the down- 
fall of his beloved Republic. So, when the French had forced 
the Juarez troops to Paso del Norte, in 1865, their pitiful, 
hungry faces and bare, bleeding feet evoked his ever-ready 
sympathy. He had little money of his own to aid them, but 
Sr. Velarde responded to "Papanino's" appeal and furnished 
food and clothing for the little band. The lists of the supplies 
issued to Juarez and his men, bearing the signature of the 
great revolutionist, are still in the possession of Sr. Alfonso 
Velarde of El Paso, grandson of Adelaida. 

During the tumultuous revolutionary years, the financial 
situation of the church in Mexico had become acute. With 
New Mexico a separate bishopric since 1857, the diocese of 
Durango was no longer able to maintain its own seminary, 
and available priests became fewer and fewer. The cura of 
Del Norte had to care for a number of small settlements 



66. Dr. Gabriel Samaniego, son of Dr. Mariano Samaniepo. Alejandro Daguerre 
was the full name of Refugio's husband. Adelaida's husband was Rafael Velarde, my 
grandfather. Ochoa owned wagon-trains that plied between Trinidad, Colorado, and 
Chihuahua. L. A. V. 

67. Interview with Mrs. Najera. Navarro is a common and noted Spanish family 
name, but Ramon's movie-name, "Novarro," appears to have "been made in Holly- 
wood." Fr. A. C. 



RAMON ORTIZ 291 

without pastors, some eighty miles distant. 68 With the rumor 
of a railroad to El Paso, people were flocking to the Rio 
Grande, and there were many Catholics among them. The 
only church on the Texas side of the river closer than Ysleta 
was a small adobe chapel at Concordia, which had been built 
by Father Ortiz and his assistant, Father Vasquez, probably 
in 1859. They called this chapel San Jose de Concordia el 
Alto, and once a month the two priests from the Mission 
took turns in crossing the river to say mass. 69 On other 
Sundays, the Joseph Magoffins, the Joseph Glasgows, and 
other of El Paso's "first families," with many of the old 
Spanish settlers and a flock of newer arrivals, ferried across 
the Rio Grande to attend services at Nuestra Senora de 
Guadalupe, the old Mission of Juarez. Until 1892, the Mission 
was the real parish church of both Juarez and El Paso ; and 
on its records are the names of many of El Paso's leading 
citizens who were married or baptized or buried by its 
beloved cura. 

Years wore on, and Padre Ortiz became less and less able 
to look after his numerous flock. He could no longer make 
journeys on horseback, and a small buggy, drawn by mule, 
became his favorite mode of transportation. However, the 
advent of the Jesuits in the 1880's brought him able and 
willing assistants both for Mission services and for the many 
sick-calls up and down the river. 70 In 1892, when Father 
Ortiz had become old and almost blind, Father Pinto, S.J., 
the regular assistant to Father Ortiz, promoted two churches 
for El Paso, and thereafter the American population wor- 
shipped at the Immaculate Conception Church or the Church 
of the Sacred Heart. 71 

With the death of Josefa, about 1885, Father Ortiz sold 
the old home and retired into smaller quarters. His house- 

68. New Mexico became & provisional diocese, or vicariate apostolic, independent 
of Durango, by decree of Pius XI, July 19, 1850, and the first bishop appointed was 
John Baptist Lamy. By decree of July 28, 1853, Santa Fe became a full-fledged 
diocese. However, the southern part of present Arizona and, it appears, the New 
Mexico district bordering on El Paso del Norte, remained in the diocese of Durango 
until 1857 or 1859, when they were annexed to the diocese of Santa Fe. Fr. A. C. 

69. Rev. J. C. M. Garde, S. J., Vicar, El Paso Diocese. San Jose de Concordia 
el Alto, no longer in existence, stood near the site of the first Fort Bliss. L. A. V. 

70. Calleros, San Jose . ... op. cit. 

71. Ibid. 



292 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

hold needs were taken care of by an old housekeeper, Ref ugio 
Garcia, but his nieces and nephews, with their growing 
families, were his constant visitors. "Papanino" was looked 
upon as the patriarch of the Ortiz tribe, who consulted his 
wishes on all important family decisions. His own wants 
were simple, but he gave generously as ever of his little 
revenue to help with the education of his great-grand-nieces 
and nephews. His lack of interest in this world's goods, how- 
ever, was sometimes a source of irritation to his more practi- 
cal friends and relatives, and an amusing story is told of 
him in this respect: 

There was an old Apache woman among his parishioners 
who for many years had brought a nugget of gold as her 
offering each time she came to services at the Mission. With 
characteristic lack of curiosity, the good Padre made no 
inquiries as to the source of the valuable metal, but one day 
the old woman confided to him that she felt her days were 
numbered and that she wished to reveal the location of the 
mine to him, so that he might look after her family when 
she was gone. She had taken an oath of secrecy when she 
had inherited the knowledge, and a tribal superstition pre- 
dicted immediate death for one who broke such a pledge. 
As a consequence she had decided to wait until she felt 
sure that death was upon her. She led Father Ortiz a few 
leagues from the town, but the Padre saw she was too feeble 
to go farther and suggested that they postpone the trip until 
a later day. She pointed out the general direction and de- 
scribed a few identifying landmarks before they turned back, 
exacting a promise from him to return soon to locate the 
mine's entrance. A few days later a messenger arrived from 
the Apache settlement with the news of her death. True to 
his word, Padre Ortiz made a few half-hearted attempts to 
locate the gold ; then he dismissed the whole matter from his 
mind. In later years, the priest happened to mention the 
matter of the nuggets to a friend, who immediately became 
fired with excitement. The friend told a friend, and he told 
a friend, and the hunt was on. However, by that time all the 
landmarks had disappeared and the Padre had only a vague 
idea as to the general direction, so the source of the nuggets 



RAMON ORTIZ 293 

remained a secret. When chided for his carelessness in later 
years, Padre Ortiz always said, laughingly, that the nuggets 
were probably not valuable, anyway. He had never had 
them assayed! Thus a probable fortune was lost and unre- 
gretted ; and the Padre continued to live his peaceful life, rich 
only in the love of God and of his flock. 72 

By 1890, his health began to fail. A cancer at the top of 
his spine, together with the infirmities of old age, caused him 
to spend more and more of his time in bed, and he gradually 
became blind and helpless. Dr. Mariano Samaniego, his 
favorite nephew, kept close watch over him, seeking to 
alleviate his suffering as much as possible, and Juan Ochoa, 
adopted son of Concepcion and Ynocente Ochoa, was his con- 
stant companion. However, the end was near. On March 6, 
1896, the following item appeared in El Paso's little four- 
page newspaper : 

The death of Father Ramon Ortiz from cancer is expected at any 
hour. He is 85 years of age, and comes of a family of high standing. 
He is an uncle of Dr. Samaniego, Sras. Daguerre and Velarde, and 
the late Sr. Innocente Ochoa. Father Ortiz has been a marked figure 
in local history from times extending back beyond the Mexican war. 73a 

That night prayers were said in many a home in Juarez 
and El Paso for the recovery of the popular priest, but it was 
time for Padre Ortiz to claim his long-deserved reward, and 
on March llth at 3 :30 A.M., he breathed his last. 73b 

The following day a requiem mass was sung in the old 
Mission where he had served so faithfully for fifty-eight 
long years; the churchyard and plaza in front overflowed 
with black-robed, weeping women and silent, grief -stricken 
men. Hundreds crossed over from El Paso to pay a last 
tribute to the old pastor, and there were floral offerings from 
prominent Protestant friends who were unaware that Catho- 
lic custom does not sanction flowers at the funeral of a 
priest. One exceptionally beautiful offering came in the name 
of the United States Government, by courtesy of the Ameri- 

72. T. J. Turner, "Lost Mine," article in El Paso Herald, October 8, 1910, p. 1. 
According to my father, the entrance to this mine could be seen (if one knew where 
to look) from the "door" of Our Lady of Guadalupe. L. A. V. 

73a. El Paso Daily Herald, March 6, 1896, p. 4, col. 2. 

73b. El Paso Daily Times, March 12, 1896. 



294 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

can consul. The whole city went into mourning, all business 
houses were closed for the day, and it was weeks before many 
of the faithful could be persuaded to remove the black crepe 
from their doorways. The funeral procession of eighty car- 
riages and fifty horsemen, followed by more than a thousand 
humble folk on foot, was the longest ever seen up to that time 
in the Southwest. 

Notices of the death of Padre Ortiz appeared in many of 
the Nation's leading newspapers, none of which was more 
heartfelt than the black-bordered tribute in the New Orleans 
Picayune. In El Paso, Juan Hart, editor of the El Paso Times 
and a long-time friend of the Padre, printed this eulogy : 

The death of the venerable and beloved curate of Juarez, which 
occurred yesterday morning at 3:30 o'clock, caused great sorrow in 
Juarez and El Paso. Father Ramon Ortiz began labors for Juarez when 
he was a handsome, warm-hearted and brilliant youth of twenty 
summers, and for the past sixty-two years, his home has been an 
asylum for orphans and for all who were in need of a home and com- 
fort, food and clothes. His door ever swung to the call of charity, his 
big warm heart loved all humanity, and if everyone to whom he has 
done a kindly act could lay a flower on his grave today, his beloved form 
would rest beneath a mountain of flowers. His heart was full of kind- 
ness, his nature was gentleness itself, and he did good for the love of 
doing it. No wonder the good people of Juarez loved their curate 
almost to adoration. 74 

Today, all that is mortal of Padre Ramon Ortiz rests in 
a little cemetery adjoining the chapel of San Jose, about four 
miles from the city of Juarez. Near him sleep many whom he 
had known and loved in life, among them Josefa, Mariano, 
and Concepcion. All are interred in concrete vaults, but that 
of the Padre is covered with a heavy marble slab on which is 
inscribed a Latin epitaph : 

P.X. 

Raymundo Ortiz 

Mexican-urbis-Passensis 

Divitissime parocho 

Caritate patriae 

Paterno concrediti-Gregis amore 

Pietate erga Deum 

Apprima claro 

74. Ibid., March 13, 1890. The editor was Juan Hart Siquieros, son of Capt. 
Simeon Hart. L. A. V. 



RAMON ORTIZ 295 

V idus Martias Ad MDCCCXCVI 

Vito f uncto 
Marianus-Samaniego-et-cognation 

Tumulum 

Mentix-gratissimae 
Argumentum. 
P.P. 

(Translation) 

The Peace of Christ be With You 

To Ramon Ortiz, of the Mexican Pass City, abounding in charity, 
(serving) as a host of your native land, most generous in your paternal 
love for the flock entrusted to your care, and most ardent in your 
devotion to God, Mariano Samaniego and his kinsmen have erected this 
monument as a token of their most devoted affection, on this, the fifth 
day before the Ides of March (llth of March) 1896. 

Thus lived and died one of the true Hidalgos, the last 
priest of pure Spanish blood to preside at the Juarez Mission. 
The last trace of his hacienda has disappeared, and the huge 
Plaza de Toros and numerous tiendas now occupy its once 
peaceful grounds. But because of his great charity and love 
for his fellowmen, his name is inscribed indelibly in the 
annals of our great Southwest ; and even when all who knew 
him in life are gone, many will read with sympathy of Ramon 
Ortiz, who had the heart of a soldier and the soul of a saint. 



75. Translation by Catherine Flynn, Latin Dept., El Paso High School. San Jose 
was a private chapel that once belonged to our family but has passed into other 
hands. It stands in the "Pueblito de San Jose" due south of Juarez. L. A. V. 



A CIVILIAN AT OLD FORT BAYARD 1881-1883 
Edited By ROY GooDALE 1 

November 22, 1881 

After staying- at Fort Cummings about 1 month, Co. "K" 
(23rd Infantry) was ordered to Fort Bayard ! So we made 
the march in 2 days in wagons, pretty good post and quar- 
ters. Capt. Goodale 2 ordered back to F. Cummings and 
started in ambulance at 2 o'clk am. He is to meet relay */2 
way. 

November 23 

Received telegram from Capt. G. arrived safely. 

November 24 

Thanksgiving all well, beautiful day and post. 

November 26 

All our mornings are very fine wrote sister Thurston 
and Hiram Whitehouse about 1 week ago. 

December 5 

Splendid weather ! Dr. Cocket left this morning. 

December 12 

The past week has been very fine a little frost at night. 
Capt. G. returned from Fort Cummings safe and sound. Let- 
ters fr. Bro. G. B. Swazey. He made me a present of $25 
God bless him ! 

December 18 

Last night it rained hard 11 shots were fired at thieves 
trying to steal waggons and mules. No one hit. Dear Fide 3 
very low ! She has only been ill a few days but we all have 
been very anxious about her. 



1. Extracts from the diary of Ephriam Goodale (1806-1887) of Orrington, Maine. 
He was a retired farmer who after selling his farm lived with his son, Greenleaf Austin, 
while at Camp Supply, Fort Leavenworth, Fort Dodge, and Fort Hays. 

Roy Goodale is the great grandson of Ephriam, and a graduate student in History 
at the University of California, Berkeley. 

2. Brig. Gen. Greenleaf Austin Goodale, then Capt. 23rd Infantry. 

3. Fidelia Beach Goodale, wife of Greenleaf Austin whom the latter met and mar- 
ried at Jacksonville, Oregon, while stationed at nearby Fort Klamath. 

296 



OLD FORT BAYARD 297 

December 19 

Dear Fide bid us farewell and died at 10 o'clk. What a 
beautiful character had this charming woman! An own 
daughter could never treat an own father with more delicate 
kindness and love than she has ever shown me. 

December 20 

How kind are all the officers and their ladies of the post 
all lavish of their attentions and sympathy. The funeral 
of dear Fide at 3 o'clk. Lt. [R. H.] Pratt read the service at 
house and grave finely and we had good singing. 

December 21 

Greenleaf and Mrs. Hay engaged all day in looking over 
dear Fide's things and distributing little gifts so friendly. 
December 22 

Went to Silver City. What large stocks of goods for a 
small place! 

December 23 

Mrs. Hay went this morning 8 o'clk. for Ft. Bliss Tex. 
Capt. G. arrived home safe saw Mrs. Hay on cars. 

December 25 

Christmas boys 4 had lots of presents. Capt. G. and I 
dined at Lt. Pratt's fine dinner. 

December 29 

After dinner the boys and I went to top of mountain over 
the stream. Evening we called at Lt. Martin's. Mrs. Martin 
and her mother, Mrs. Swift very pleasant ladies very. 

December 31 

Last day of the year. What changes ! 

January 1, 1882 

Sunday 1882! On this beautiful morning I was greeted 
by the boys with "a happy new year, Grandpa !" Mrs. Martin 
had Sabbath School and Lt. Martin read Episcopal service 
pm. 

January 2 

Fine morning. Greenleaf with bad cold. 



4. Roy Lewis and Col. George Swazey, sons of Greenleaf Austin. 



298 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

January 7 

The past week I wrote to Katie Whitehouse and Dea 
Thomas George. Greenleaf has had a bad cold but is much 
better now. A lot of Mexicans with loaded ox teams came up 
to post trader. What queer outfits ! One cart loaded with pep- 
per made entirely of wood and rawhide! Not an ounce of 
iron. Last thursday a cattle thief was shot dead at suttler's 
store. How little human life is valued out here. It seems that 
the "cowboys" or rustlers are growing scarce. Four of them 
were shot 12 miles from here the other day and the owner 
got his stock. 

January 8 

Episcopal service and Sab. School Lt. and Mrs. Martin. 

January 9 

Wrote [Prof. George] Lincoln [Goodale] and wife a 
little snow. 

January 16 

Lt. [C. D.] Cowles and family with us. Mrs. Cowles was 
formerly of the Sandwich Islands. 

January 19 

Last night 7 shots fired by a drunken sentinel. Wrote Mr. 
Marston. 

February 7, 1882 

Since last date there has been but little news. We have 
been to Silver City. There has been frequent snow squalls 
cool nights warm days. Dr. Whiting has vaccinated our 
family and all the post. Report says one case of smallpox 
S. City. 

February 8 

I wrote Mrs. George fine day. 

February 13 

My vaccination has made me sick for days. One of the 
cavalrymen shot his horse this morning crazy it is said. 
Wrote Willis Thurston. Also Ann Chapin last Saturday. 
February 28 

Last day of month. Good letter from S. E. Nourse. It has 



OLD FORT BAYARD 299 

been quite squally since last date part of the time. Inspection 
this morning. Pretty good. 

March 20 

Capt. Goodale went to Demming this morning for his 
mother White and Mrs. Hay 

April 9 

Easter Sunday my birthday 76 years old. I found $5 
under my plate at breakfast from dear Greenleaf who has 
gone with Mrs. White and Mrs. Hay to Demming. We had a 
charming visit from them. Mrs. White reminds me so much 
of dear Fide she gave me a fine raw silk handkerchief. We 
had a fine ride to Santa Rita. 

April 18 

Capt. G. and Co. "K" and two companies cavalry started 
for Sepor after Apaches on border of old and New Mexico. 
Twenty day's rations. G. gave me $5 more. Only 1 co. at post. 

April 25 

The air is full of rumors of Indian hostilities. One man 
killed and four wounded in Lt. Martin's cavalry company. 
Wrote Capt. G. at Separ N. M. 

April 29 

Last night Capt. [R. I.] Eskridge and Co. [left] 11 o'clk. 
with 10 day's rations post left all alone. Wrote Capt. G. 

May 9 

The past week has been squally some rain, snow, and 
hail. I was sick yesterday better this morning. Expect com- 
panies pm. How I long to see dear Greenleaf. Capt. Eskridge 
and Co. came back from Lordsburg, N. M. 

May 26 

Since last date all the companies have returned to post 
looking well. All glad to see them. New suit of clothes from 
N. Y. for dear Greenleaf. Wrote sister Thurston, Lizzie 
Waters and Adelaid 

June 9, 1882 

Since last date we have had a number of fine showers. A 
party of visitors from Fort Cummings came up and spent 



300 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

two or three days. Hop in their honor. Yesterday I went to 
Silver City with Lt. [Stephen] O'connor and [Lt. 0. L.] 
Wieting. 

June 29 

Day before yesterday we went in 3 ambulances to Pache 
de Nos to meet 2 companies troops on march to another post. 
Had a fine ride and picnick. Two officers came up with us. 
Garden looks well. Rec'd letter from Willie Chapin and an- 
swered it. 

July 22 

Very hot for 2 weeks. 146 bats killed from one window. 
Lot of Mexican teams come dull at post two cavalry com- 
panies went out 15 day's rations. Mrs. [T. M. K.] Smith gave 
us ride. Lt. Wieting and family gone to New York 6 mo. 
leave. Harry Waters' wife died about 1 week ago. 

August 5 

Hot 2 weeks 2 companies cavalry returned yesterday. 
I went to Wall and Maggie O'Brien's wedding 1st Aug. at 
Silver City nice wedding in chh. Fine ride to Hanover 
Gulch with Mrs. Eskridge and family. Rain. 

August 24 

Greenleaf quite ill today frequent showers. Lt. Duprey 
made us 3 day's visit rode to S. City with him. A fine 
pleasant fellow. 

August 29 

I rode to Silver City with Lt. Martin's family. Fine ride. 

August 31 

We were invited to Col. [J. K.] Mizner's and stayed till 
1 o'clk. Had a fine time refreshments and music. 

September 1 

Heavy shower I told the boys we went to Col. Mizner's 
last summer and came back this fall! 

September 3 

Went down to new barracks. Company inspection. 

September 14 

I have been quite ill for the last 10 days part of time fine 



OLD FORT BAYARD 301 

weather. Flowers looking splendidly. Dr. Cocket and Lt. 
Duprey called a few days ago. 

September 25 

Beautiful morning. My health better. We are having 
plenty of melons from the garden ; grapes, apples, etc. Mr. 
and Mrs. Kelley from California arrived and have performed 
on the violin and organ one evening very fine artists. Mr. 
Kelley 70 and Mrs. Kelley 32. He is the finest player I ever 
heard and so droll and funny ! 

November 1, 1882 

The Kelleys have come and gone at our house one night. 
Wrote sister Thurston. A private died at hospital. 

November 3 

Some cases of dyphtheria and no school. Private buried. 

November 4 

Over to Reading Room. Capt. G. gone to S. City. 

November 23 

Cold with 4 in. snow. Capt. G. and Lt. Cowles gone hunt- 
ing till Sat. 4th Cavalry to come soon. 

December 11 

Headqrs. 4th Cav. Since last date the Band and Col. [W. 
B.] Royall and family have arrived very pleasant family. 
I went to Silver City last Friday. Last Sunday Capt. G. and 
the boys started for Fort Bliss via Fort Cummings to be gone 
a week. Last night two Episcopalian clergymen lodged with 
us 

December 25 

Christmas Capt. G. and the boys had a good visit to 
Fort Bliss and Mexico and ret'd safely. Lots of presents this 
morning for self and boys. Letter and handkerchief from 
Carrie and one fr. Cousin Belle today. Greenleaf gave me 1 
silk hkf., 1 silk necktie, 1 linen hkf ., oranges, apples, cigars, 
etc. etc. All the officers and ladies interchanged presents in 
the most generous manner. We had a most luxurious dinner 
roast turkey, oysters, venison, sausage, and a nice dessert. 
This evening we were invited to Lt. Martin's and had a nice 



302 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

supper, plays etc. What a delightful family ! Met the Swartz 
brothers, Mrs. Munn, and Dr. Whitney. 

January 1, 1883 

We have entered on another year with all its unknown 
events. Oh, may God keep and bless us as a people and family. 
One family at post have lost 4 children by diphtheria the 
rest of the family were ordered into a tent and their house and 
furniture burned up ! A good deal of excitement. The school 
stopped no other cases. 

January 16 

The post has had many festivities, meetings, etc. Catholic 
and Episcopal services. Sergeant Scott dead and buried. At- 
tended masquerade ball reading room. 

January 22 

Very cold nights for 2 weeks 8 or 10 above zero. Lt. 
O'Connor and family arrived. We were invited to attend 
Mrs. Col. Mizner's "German" but declined. All well. 

January 31 

Amateur theatricals at Co. "K" barracks. Play of "Lend- 
ing a Lover." It went off splendidly. Capt. Eskridge, Lt. 

, Miss Royall, Miss Martin, Lt. Martin, Mr. Mizner 

took parts. Full house after play at hop room. 

February 3, 1883 

The boys were to have had a picknick today but too cold 
and windy three Chinamen killed out of four just above our 
post! 

February 6 

Three Mexicans arrested for the above murder. They are 
being tried at Central City today. Hop at Reading Room last 
night. 

February 28 

Last day mo. This mo. has been quiet, not cold. Amuse- 
ments 2 or 3 times per week. Rev. Mr. Gamble of Silver City 
had preached nearly every Sab. evening. 

March 23 

Wrote Augustus Chapin. Co "K" plowing and sowing. 



OLD FORT BAYARD 303 

March 25 

Gen'l Angar, Gen'l , Col. Forsyth and other offi- 
cers arrv'd about 11 am. A salute of 15 guns, band, etc. Chh. 
services at 8 pm after which Col. Roy all gave a reception and 
we met all the officers at his house. Had a fine time, refresh- 
ments, etc. They all left Monday morning. 

March 27 

Capt. Goodale, Lt. [E. de R.] Nichols, Lt. Wieting, George 
and self all went to Silver City. Rumors that Indians are out 
and committing murders. 5 or 6 ranchmen killed. We met the 
pack mules of two companies of cavalry dispatched this 
morning from Ft. Bayard to hunt them up. 

March 28 

Lt. Nichols' wife and baby are with us. Mrs. Nichols is 
Col. Haller's daughter. 

March 29 

Judge and wife killed by Indians ! Great excite- 
ment this morning, some talk of sending out another com- 
pany of our post, Infantry. Capt. Eskridge's company went 
out for about a week. 

April 9 

My birthday, 77 years old. Greenleaf gave me a $10 gold 
piece which I gave back to him. Gen'l McKinsley, Capt. 

Woodruff, Lt. called. Mr. Ed Pearson came last 

f riday. We called at Lt. Martin's evening. 

April 10 

Greenleaf, Ed, and Frank Bennet gone to S. City. 

April 27 

We have had a most brilliant "German" this evening at 
New Barracks, about 18 couples besides visitors. Most stayed 
till 3 o'clk decidedly gay. Mr. Pearson left Sat. 28th. 

April 29, 1883 

Good Chh. services Mr. Gamble preached. 

April 30 

George sick. Letters f r. Lizzie and Mrs. Chapin. 

May 28 

This mo. thus far has been cold and backward till last 



304 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

week or 10 days. Terrible cyclones reported all over the con- 
tinent nearly. Capt. G. has been selling off and packing up 
for our long journey, poor fellow is terribly tired. We have 
boarded at 0. C. Pratt and Nichols. 

June 1 

Called at all the officers qrs. Mrs. Capt. Eskridge gave 
me a nice silk hkf called on Mrs. Hugo. We started for S. 
City 11 am on cars for Demming. Dined at Metropolitan 
Hotel. Started on cars for Fort Bliss 7 pm arrv'd about 11 
at Post and met Col. Fletcher, Capt. Wheaton and Lt. Hay. 
A most cordial recp'n, lodged at Col. Flecher's, pleasant peo- 
ple all. Post of 2 companies but oh, how dry and hot ! Fort 
Bliss is in Texas on the river Rio Grande. 

June 2 

Rested all day. 

June 3 

Capt. G. and Mrs. Hay went to town to chh. We went over 
to hear Mrs. Lt. [E. B.] Bolton sing and play very fine. 

June 4 

We drove to El Paso, quite a smart place. 

June 5 

Drove to El Paso del Norte in Old Mexico a queer old 
M. town, queer gardens, Cathedral 300 yrs. old, relics, etc. 

June 6 

Oh, hot hot! 100 deg! This post 2 companies. Officers 
kind. 

June 7 

We start tomorrow and am glad to get out of heat. 



FREDERICK E. PHELPS: A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 
Edited by FRANK D. REEVE 

(Concluded) 

In March, 1879, I received my long delayed promotion 
to First Lieutenant after nearly nine years' service as a 
Second Lieutenant. This promotion carried me to "F" Troop, 
which was stationed at Fort Mclntosh, near Laredo. My 
commission dated from the 20th of March, 1879, but I was 
directed to wait at Fort Clark until further orders. On the 
llth of May, 1879, my second daughter, Elsie L., was born 
at Fort Clark. Of course, I could not move my family for 
sometime and, in fact did not go down to Fort Mclntosh until 
September. Just before Elsie was born, Auntie came to Fort 
Clark to live with us. Mary's sister, Maggie, had died at 
Celina the previous October of tuberculosis, and we at once 
wrote Auntie to make her home with us. She came by rail 
to San Antonio and from there to Fort Clark, a distance of 
one hundred and fifty-six miles, by coach, and the roads were 
in such a horrible condition that it took her three days to 
finish this coach ride. We had only three rooms in all. The 
front room was our bed room and sitting room. Immediately 
behind this was our dining room and we screened off one end 
of this to make a place for Auntie. The kitchen was immedi- 
ately in the rear, but before Elsie was born, we moved into 
the other end of the house where we had five rooms, and we 
thought this was quite sumptuous. In September, I pro- 
ceeded to Fort Mclntosh by way of San Antonio, taking my 
family with me and all my household goods, which filled two 
six-mule wagons. When the order finally came for me to go 
to Fort Mclntosh, I was out hunting and got home at nine 
o'clock that night, which happened to be a Saturday. Mary 
had a good supper waiting for me and after I had disposed 
of it, I was sitting on the porch smoking my pipe when she 
came out and told me that an order had come from the com- 
manding officer, about four o'clock, that I was to start the 
very next morning for my new station. The temporary Post 

305 



306 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

commander was Major Wilcox. 87 I went over to his quarters 
and he told me there was an ambulance and some wagons at 
the Post belonging at San Antonio, that the Department com- 
mander had ordered them returned, and that he had tele- 
graphed that I would leave the next day with them. 

I was provoked, of course, over the exceedingly short 
notice, but said nothing. At reveille the next morning I told 
my first sergeant, for I was in temporary command of the 
troop, to send the entire troop to my quarters as soon as they 
had breakfast. The Quartermaster let me have a lot of rough 
lumber ; by noon all of our furniture was packed, crated, and 
loaded on the wagons, and at one o'clock we pulled out for 
San Antonio. My family rode in the ambulance. We had a 
pleasant trip to San Antonio, and from there to Laredo, 
except that we were nearly devoured by mosquitoes a part 
of the time. On arrival at Fort Mclntosh I reported to my 
new troop commander, Captain A. P. Carraher, 88 with whom 
I was fated to serve for some years. Carraher was a typical 
Irishman, had come into the regulars from the volunteers, 
and as an officer was absolutely worthless. He was noisy, 
overbearing, very harsh with his men, drank hard, and every 
time the troop went on a scout during the six years that I 
was with him he went on sick report promptly, leaving me 
to the command of the troop. I was immediately appointed 
Post Adjutant, and was practically placed in command of the 
troop, as I took reveille, the daily drill, and afternoon stables. 
The retreat and tattoo roll calls were taken by the Second 
Lieutenant, Mr. Pinder, 89 who had been recently transferred 
to the troop, and who was, I think, the handsomest man I 
ever saw in the Army. He was married. His wife was a fine 
young woman, and she became an intimate friend of Mary 
and me. I hear from her once in a while even yet. Pinder 

87. John Andrew Wilcox was born in Washington, D. C. He was commissioned 
2nd Lieutenant, 1st Cavalry, March 28, 1861, and advanced to the rank of Major, 
8th Cavalry, March 20, 1879. 

88. Andrew Patrick Caraher was born in Ireland. He enlisted as Captain, 28th 
Massachusetts Infantry, December 13, 1861, and was mustered out with the rank of 
Colonel, November 7, 1865. He re-enlisted as 1st Lieutenant, July 28, 1866, and was 
advanced to Captain, January 15, 1873. 

The name is spelled with only one "r" in Heitman, Historical Register. . . . 

89. Joseph William Pinder was born in Georgia. He was commissioned 2nd 
Lieutenant, 8th Cavalry, August 15, 1876. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 307 

was a reckless wild blade, careless in regard to his duties, 
more so in money matters, and did not last very long. 

In July, Elsie was taken very ill and the doctor informed 
me that I must send her east to save her life. We started 
immediately and traveled one hundred and fifty miles to San 
Antonio whence Mary, Auntie, May and Elsie started for 
Urbana, and I returned to my station. The change of water 
and climate did wonders for Elsie, and she rapidly recovered. 

In October, I took six months leave of absence and joined 
my family, who had gone to Saint Mary's, and that winter 
we lived with father and mother in the old house, Mary 
having charge of the household. On the 29th of the following 
January, my daughter, Margie, was born. That was one of 
the worst winters that I ever saw in Ohio, but we managed 
to get through very comfortably. When Margie was ten days 
old, I received a telegram from the War Department asking 
me if I was willing to give up the balance of my leave and 
go to Jefferson Barracks, 90 Missouri, just below St. Louis, 
for temporary duty; I promptly accepted and a week after 
I proceeded there and reported for duty. 

Jefferson Barracks was then the Cavalry Recruit depot 
and I found that I was to be assigned to the command of one 
of the recruit companies. The commanding officer was my 
own Colonel Neill; 91 I found Williams, 92 of my class and 
regiment, there as Adjutant, and Captain Foote, 93 of my 
regiment, was the Quartermaster. Mary joined me about 
two months afterward, and we spent a very pleasant summer 
at this place, but in September I received an order to go to 

90. For a brief history of this long-time western military post, established in 
1826, see Henry W. Webb, "The Story of Jefferson Barracks," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL 
REVIEW, XXI, no. 3 (July, 1946). 

91. Thomas Hewson Neill was born in Pennsylvania. He graduated from the 
United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, July 1, 1847. 
He held the rank of Brigadier General of Volunteers during the Civil War. He was 
commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, February 22, 1869, and Colonel, 8th Cavalry, April 2, 
1879. 

92. Richard Algernon Williams was born in Pennsylvania. He graduated from 
the United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 8th 
Cavalry, June 15, 1870. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, May 17, 1876, and Captain, 
April 24, 1886. 

93. George Franklin Foote was born in New York. He enlisted as a private in 
the Civil War and was mustered out with the rank of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, 
July 18, 1865. He re-enlisted as 2nd Lieutenant, July 28, 1866, and attained the rank 
of Captain, January 18, 1881. 



308 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Fort Mclntosh to be assigned to duty as Quartermaster. 
On the first day of October, 1881, I assumed the duties of 
Quartermaster, Commissary, Adjutant, Post Treasurer, Post 
Signal Officer, and Post Ordnance Officer, all of these in 
addition to my duties as troop officer. It had been decided 
to build two new sets of barracks, an administration build- 
ing, and two warehouses ; I found that Major S. S. Sumner, 94 
of my regiment, who was in command, had applied for me 
to do this work. He was one of the best officers to serve 
under that I ever knew, and I have always been very much 
attached to him, and to his lovely wife. He is now a Major 
General on the retired list. The Post Surgeon was Captain 
F. C. Ainsworth, 95 Medical Department, now Major General 
and Adjutant General of the Army. Major Sumner was a 
very easy man to get along with, prompt and active in the 
discharge of his duties. Captain Ainsworth and I did not 
get along so well together. He was a splendid surgeon and 
had a fine hospital, but was tenacious of what he thought 
were his rights; I suppose that I was equally tenacious on 
the other side, and we frequently clashed, but my acquaint- 
ance with him proved to be of very great value in after years. 
He gave me my present detail on recruiting service at Pitts- 
burg and helped me in every way to get Fred his commission 
in the army ; the last time I saw him in Washington we had 
a good laugh over old times at Fort Mclntosh. 

With all these duties piled on to me, I worked exceedingly 
hard, getting up at four o'clock and five o'clock in the morn- 
ing ; I made the rounds of the stables and of the work shops, 
then went to where the buildings were being erected at six, 
checked off the workmen to see that all were present, had my 
breakfast at seven, mounted the guard at eight, and put in 
the whole day around the buildings and the office, doing 
nearly all the clerical work in my office after dark. I was 



94. Samuel Storrow Sumner was born in Pennsylvania. He was commissioned 
2nd Lieutenant, June 11, 1861. He was promoted to Major, 8th Cavalry, April 2. 1879, 
and attained the rank of Brigadier General, February 4, 1901. 

Samuel Storrow Sumner was a brother of Edwin Vose Sumner, Jr. See note 40. 

95. Fred Crayton Ainsworth was appointed Assistant Surgeon, November 10. 
1874, from Vermont. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 309 

only allowed one clerk, P. A. Ord, a nephew of General Ord, 06 
and generally known as "Buck." He was a stalwart boy of 
nineteen, and an excellent clerk ; he messed with us, and we 
were the warmest of friends until his untimely death. 

One of the most aggravating things that ever occurred 
to me was in the following June when I received a telegram 
from the Chief Quartermaster of the Department that there 
was about forty thousand dollars left in his hands for 
barracks and quarters, and that if I would get into his 
office, before midnight of June 30th, ground plans, cross 
sections and elevations, together with an estimate of the 
cost of materials and labor for another barrack and com- 
manding officer's quarters, two or three sets of officers' 
quarters, and various other buildings, we could have the 
money. After consulting with Major Sumner, Ord and I 
went to work, drew the plans, cross-sections and elevations, 
and made blue prints of the same, showing all the dimen- 
sions ; we made estimates for the stone, brick, sand, lumber, 
nails, glass, etc., and the necessary labor to put up the 
buildings, and at noon of the 30th day of June, sent a 
telegram to the Chief Quartermaster that the plans, etc., 
had been mailed. We had worked almost continuously for 
forty-eight hours, leaving our office that morning at three 
o'clock. To my disgust, on the first day of July we received 
a telegram stating that the telegram of June 28th had been 
sent to our post by mistake, and that it was intended for 
another post. 

In November, 1882, Captain Carraher had a misunder- 
standing with the commanding officer of the Post in regard 
to the number of men he had absent from a dress parade, 
and the commanding officer required all company com- 
manders to at once submit a statement of how many men 
were absent, on what duty, and by what authority. Captain 
Carraher's report showed that he had twelve or fifteen 
men absent on a hunting trip without any authority from 

96. Edward Otho Cresap Ord was born in Maryland. He graduated from the 
United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, July 1, 1839. 
He served with distinction in the Civil War and retired with the rank of Major 
General, conferred January 28, 1881. See the DAB and Appletons' Cyclopedia. 



310 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

the Post commander, who, of course, was the only one who 
could authorize it, and he received a sharp reprimand from 
Major Sumner for exceeding his authority. Up to this 
time I had had a soldier cooking for me and, of course, he 
belonged to my own troop. Captain Carraher also had one. 
Army regulations forbid this practice, but it was utterly 
impossible on the frontier to get civilian servants at any 
cost, and the practice of having soldier cooks was almost 
universal. I paid my man twenty dollars a month out of 
my own pocket; he attended target practice, muster, and 
Sunday morning inspections, but was excused from his other 
duties, and Captain Carraher's man was excused from 
everything, except target practice and muster. The next 
morning Captain Carraher ordered me to return my man 
to duty in the company, but did not turn in his own and, 
as I lived next door to him, I soon discovered this, but said 
nothing. 

Auntie was with us and she and Mary did the cooking, 
but on the 25th of November Mary presented me with her 
second child, Fred; the very next day Auntie stepped on 
a rusty nail and was completely disabled for two weeks. 
There was no one to do the cooking but myself, and for 
two weeks I not only performed all my official duties but 
had to prepare all the meals and do the housework, for 
Mary and auntie were both in bed. One day Major Sumner 
asked me if I had attended to some important matter and 
I had to acknowledge that I had completely forgotten it. 
He looked at me a moment, then quietly said, "Phelps, you 
appear to be about worn out, have you too much to do?" 
I then told him the whole story, that besides working from 
daylight to midnight I had all the cooking and housework 
in my house to do. He asked me where my servant was 
and I told him that Captain Carraher had turned him in. 
He asked me if Captain Carraher had turned in his man, 
and I declined to answer the question, telling him that he 
could easily find out for himself. He immediately sent for 
Captain Carraher and asked him why he had taken away 
my man and kept his own, adding that I had declined to 
answer any questions about it. Captain Carraher, of course, 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 311 

could offer no explanation. Major Sumner turned to me 
and asked me the name of the man that I had had, and 
immediately upon receiving the name, issued a written 
order detaching this man from the troop. He put it down 
in black and white that the soldier was to report to the 
Quartermaster, The Commissary, The Post Signal Officer, 
The Post Treasurer, and the Post Ordnance Officer for 
duty as cook in his kitchen, and sent a copy of the order 
to Department headquarters with a letter explaining the 
circumstances; to Carraher's utter amazement the order 
was promptly confirmed by the Department commander. 
Mary did not recover rapidly, and in the meantime an 
order came from the War Department transferring the 
troop to Fort Clark. Doctor Ainsworth immediately in- 
formed the Post commander that it would be dangerous 
to her life to move Mary at present, and I applied to De- 
partment headquarters for authority to remain behind until 
she could travel, but for some reason the Department com- 
mander disapproved it. Why, I never knew. I immediately 
went to Major Sumner and told him that he could put 
me in arrest, but that I positively declined to either attempt 
to move my wife in her then condition or to go away and 
leave her alone. He immediately telegraphed to Department 
headquarters that he had assumed the responsibility of 
ordering me to remain behind; he explained the matter 
more fully in a letter and then the Department commander 
approved it. The result was that the troop left without us, 
and Captain Carraher was directed to leave ten men behind 
to go with me. About the first of June we proceeded to 
Fort Clark, going the first day only seven or eight miles. 
Mr. Ord went with us that far and remained in camp with 
us that night. The next morning he said good bye to us 
and returned, and I never saw him again, for in a little 
over four years he died at old Fort Concho. When our 
regiment rendezvoused there, on the march to Dakota, I 
went to the cemetery and saw his grave. He was one of 
the best young men I ever knew. He was particularly at- 
tached to Margie, in fact to all my children, and was very 
kind to them. 



312 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Shortly after my transfer from Fort Mclntosh to Fort 
Clark, Texas, in the summer of 1883, my troop was ordered 
for the summer to Meyers springs. This spring is under 
a pile of rocks in a desolate valley, about four miles from 
the Southern Pacific Railroad and one hundred and fifty 
miles from Fort Clark. For one hundred and fifty miles 
east and west of this place the Rio Grande flows through 
a large canyon; the only place in this three hundred miles 
that animals can be crossed was just opposite Meyers 
springs and forty-five miles distant from that place. At 
this point two canyons come down, one on each side of 
the river, and the water there was shallow, so that a party of 
raiding Indians could follow down one canyon, cross the 
river and reach the plains by the other canyon. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad with working parties 
of five or six men each scattered along the road, asked 
that troops might occupy this canyon to keep the Indians 
from raiding from the Mexican side and threatening their 
working parties. It was impossible to keep troops down in 
this canyon on account of the awful heat, for it was not 
more than one hundred feet wide and the walls two or 
three hundred feet high; besides, in case of a flood, it 
would be a regular death trap, there being no escape. 

Accordingly a troop of cavalry was kept at Meyers 
springs to pursue at once any parties crossing from the 
Mexican side. The troop was camped on a level plateau 
of sand and gravel, with not a tree within forty miles, and 
nothing green in sight. The plain was half gravel and half 
sand and thinly covered with long sage brush. The hot 
wind blew almost continuously all summer and brought 
clouds of dust on the camp; it was a very uncomfortable 
place. We could get no fresh meat and had to live on ham 
and bacon all summer and, of course, no vegetables at all. 
Doctor Blair D. Taylor, 97 Medical Department, was with 
us that summer. About the middle of July, Doctor Taylor 
and I took a dozen men and started for the Pecos river 
about sixty miles from our camp, partly to explore the 



97. Blair Dabney Taylor was born in Virginia. He was appointed Assistant 
Surgeon, June 26, 1875. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 313 

country and partly for a hunting and fishing trip. We 
struck the Pecos river about fifty miles above its mouth 
where, on the western side, came down a little mountain 
stream, roaring and plunging among the rocks, and making 
an ideal camping place. We got there Sunday afternoon and, 
shortly after making camp, I laid down under a big 
sycamore tree and went to sleep. I dreamed that my father 
had died. He was at home at Saint Mary's, and I had not 
received any information that he was even ill. The dream 
made such a strong impression upon me that it woke me 
up, and I immediately told Doctor Taylor that I should 
return at once to camp. By this time it was dark and I 
could not ride over the mountain trail, but at daylight the 
next morning I took two men and pushed rapidly from 
camp, leaving Doctor Taylor and the party on this stream 
for a few days. I made the sixty miles to Meyers springs 
by sunset. Captain Carraher came out of his tent and, the 
moment I saw his face, I knew that he had bad news. I 
asked him if there were any telegrams for me, and he said, 
"Yes." I said, "My father is dead." He replied, "Yes, but 
how did you know it, the telegrams only came last night 
by mail from Fort Clark. Your wife received them and 
forwarded them; she told my wife, who wrote to me by 
the same mail." He handed me two telegrams from my 
brother, one saying that father was very ill and the other, 
one day later, that he was dead. These telegrams had been 
delayed, and were both more than a week old, so that it 
was impossible for me to reach home in time for the 
funeral. 

I have often thought of these circumstances, but cannot 
explain them. I had not the slightest idea that my father 
had been ill and yet the dream was so vivid that I could 
not mistake it. I went to my tent to write to my mother 
and, while doing so, a man rode into camp and informed 
Captain Carraher that a party of fifty Indians had crossed 
the river and the railroad and were raiding the cattle 
ranches. He said that he came from a little station four 
miles from our camp, and that the news came there from 
the telegraph operator at Langtry, a station twenty miles 



314 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

further down the road, who reported that the working 
parties had come in greatly alarmed, saying they had seen 
the Indians. Instantly boots-and-saddles were sounded and, 
in thirty minutes, the whole troop, except a small camp 
guard, were moving toward the canyon mentioned above 
to take possession of it and prevent the Indians' return. 
Telegrams were hurried to Department headquarters noti- 
fying them of our action. Our rations were sent to us once 
a month from Fort Clark and a carload was due that day. 
We only had two days' rations in camp, so I took the pack 
mules, a dozen men, went to the station to see if the car 
had arrived, and procured ten days' rations, Captain 
Carraher going straight to the canyon. I found the car on 
the side track, but the station agent refused to allow me 
to open the car, which was sealed, as he had received no 
way bill. I insisted upon having the rations and he per- 
emptorily refused to open the car, so I put him under a 
guard, broke open the car, took out ten day's rations, packed 
them on the mules, and started on Captain Carraher's 
trail. I marched as rapidly as possible and arrived at the 
head of the canyon way after dark. I knew the trail down 
the canyon was very narrow and steep in places, winding 
along the face of the cliffs, so I went down ahead on foot 
striking matches from time to time and we finally arrived 
at the bottom. We remained there all the next day; about 
dark one of the men from camp came down and brought 
a telegram that the whole story was a fake, that the operator 
at Langtry was suffering from delirium tremens, and had 
made up the whole story. The next morning we started back, 
Captain Carraher going through to camp at once, while I 
camped at a water hole where we found fresh deer tracks. 
As soon as we had watered the animals and filled our camp 
kettles, we moved half a mile away and camped behind a 
hill. Doctor Taylor, who was a keen hunter, and I went 
back to the water hole ; he stationed himself about a quarter 
of a mile away in a little canyon where tracks showed deer 
were in the habit of coming down. I concealed myself within 
twenty yards of the water hole and patiently waited for 
the deer to come, but about sunset, getting tired, I returned 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 315 

to camp. Doctor Taylor came strolling over and, to his 
astonishment, a large buck deer was drinking out of the 
pool, but immediately made off before he could get a shot. 
If I had remained at the pool ten minutes longer, no doubt 
I would have gotten him, and Doctor Taylor abused me 
for a week for my neglect. We returned to camp the next 
day; this little trip took my mind somewhat off my grief. 

We had been at Fort Clark but a few weeks when we 
were ordered to Del Rio, a one-company Post thirty miles 
west. I dreaded this because Carraher would be in command 
and I knew that it would be very unpleasant for me. There 
were only two houses there and we each took one. About 
this time our new Second Lieutenant, Matthew F. Steele, 98 
now a Major of the 2nd Cavalry, joined us. He had just 
graduated at West Point and was a young, active and ener- 
getic officer, one of the best I ever saw. We speedily be- 
came very warm friends and are to this day. In June, I was 
ordered to Fort Leavenworth in command of the Texas 
Rifle team for the rifle competition. Just before this it 
had been discovered that in surveying the limits of the 
Post at Del Rio the engineer had made a mistake, both sets 
of officers' quarters were just outside the line and on 
private property. 

Land around there was not worth more than ten or 
fifteen cents an acre, and the strip we occupied was not 
more than half an acre in extent, but the owner thought 
he saw a chance to bleed the Government and immediately 
demanded one thousand dollars for that little strip. Natural- 
ly enough the Government refused and, pending some other 
arrangements, we were ordered to vacate the houses and 
go into camp. I knew Mary and the children could not stand 
tent life in that climate in summer and therefore arranged 
to take them home. To go east required three full tickets 
and two half tickets, amounting to about two hundred 
dollars, which was, of course, a heavy drain on me, and 
would even then only carry us to St. Louis. 



98. Matthew Forney Steele was born in Alabama. He graduated from the 
United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 8th Cavalry, 
June 13, 1883. 



316 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

While I was Quartermaster at Fort Mclntosh, a young 
man came to Laredo in charge of the railroad terminus and 
brought me a letter of introduction from a classmate of 
mine. Of course, we had him to dinner the following Sun- 
day; for that dinner Mary prepared a number of spring 
chickens and that young man ate two himself. I was always 
fond of raising poultry and at that time had a large number 
of chickens in the yard. This young man, whose name was 
Farley, took Sunday dinner with us every week for several 
months ; when we went away he told me if there was any- 
thing in the railroad line that I wanted to let him know. 
He had been the private secretary of the General Passenger 
Agent, and was, I think, his nephew. Remembering this, I 
wrote him at once from Del Rio. I told him that I had to 
send my family east and asked him if he could get me 
half -fare tickets to St. Louis. Nearly a month elapsed and 
the time to start had arrived, but I had received no reply, 
so I concluded that he had forgotten all about me. The 
very day before we were to start I received a letter from 
him from the city of Mexico, to which place he had been 
transferred to represent the railroad interests, but I had 
not heard of it. He expressed the hope that it was not too 
late and inclosed a pass reading, "Pass Captain Phelps, wife, 
nurse, children and extra baggage, from Del Rio to Urbana, 
Ohio," which pass was signed by the General Passenger 
Agent of the Missouri Pacific System. The next day Captain 
Carraher took his wife and daughter down to the Depot and 
I was there with all my family. He had to buy tickets, and 
when he discovered that I had a through pass for my en- 
tire family he was astonished. He told me that he had 
asked for half-fare tickets and had been refused, and 
asked me how in the world I got the pass. I only laughed 
and told him that I paid for my pass with spring chickens, 
and I never did tell him the rest of the story. On arrival 
at some point in Missouri, Mary and the rest went on east 
while I proceeded to Fort Leavenworth. While on the rifle 
range there I received a telegram from the War Depart- 
ment directing that, as soon as I had taken my men back 
to Fort Clark, to proceed to Lexington, Kentucky, and 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 317 

report to the President of the Agricultural and Mechanical 
College of Kentucky, at that place, for duty as instructor 
in tactical and military science. I had been making some 
effort to obtain a detail of this kind at Meadeville, Pennsyl- 
vania, where an officer in my regiment held that position 
and was about to be relieved, but had utterly failed. I knew 
nothing of a vacancy at Lexington and for a long time 
wondered how it happened that I was ordered there. 

I learned a year later that it was through the efforts of 
a classmate of mine to whom I had been kind when he was 
down and out. This man graduated at the foot of our class. 
He was the son of a prominent politician in New York City. 
After serving a few years with his regiment he resigned. 
While I was Adjutant at Fort Mclntosh, a detachment of 
recruits for the regiment came down. I took charge of them 
and when I called the roll each man stepped to the front and 
answered "here." Finally I came down to the "J's" ; to my 
utter astonishment, there stood the name of "Lovell H. 
Jerome" 99 and, looking up, there stood my classmate in the 
garb of a recruit. I went on calling the roll ; when through, 
I dismissed the men to their camp and called to Jerome, 
shook hands with him and asked him what he was doing 
there. He said he had enlisted in hopes of recovering his 
commission. I told him to come to my quarters that evening. 
I introduced him to Mary ; she gave us a nice lunch on the 
porch and left us alone, and we talked of old times nearly 
all night. There were one hundred horses at the Post to 
be sent down to Ringgold Barracks, one hundred miles dis- 
tant, and I suggested to Major Sumner to put Jerome in 
command of the men to take them there. Of course, as he 
was only a soldier, he had to eat the same food as the* 
other men and in that country this meant the straight 
ration and nothing more. But just before he left I sent him 
a box containing a lot of good things to eat, not forgetting 
a box of cigars. He got the horses down in good shape and 
did very well for a year. He was then ordered before a 

99. Lovell Hall Jerome was born in New York. He graduated from the United 
States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Cavalry, June 15, 
1870, and resigned from the service, April 12, 1879. He re-enlisted and served as 
private and corporal from March 16, 1880, to January 31, 1882. 



318 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

board of officers for examination and passed easily, but he 
could not stand his good luck, at once went on a terrible 
spree, and ended up in the guardhouse. Of course, this 
killed all chances for his commission and shortly afterward 
he was discharged. I next heard of him at old Fort Duncan 
through a letter from his father in New York, who stated 
that he had heard that his son was actually suffering for 
food and raiment, that he knew by bitter experience that 
any money he might send him would be spent in dissipation, 
and asked my advice. I immediately wrote him to send fifty 
dollars to a firm of merchants there, whom I knew, who 
would furnish him a good suit of clothes and other neces- 
sities ; I also gave him the name of a hotel there where he 
could board, suggested that he write the proprietor that 
he would send him a check each month for his son's board, 
and that in the meantime I would endeavor to get his son 
some employment. I knew the Collector of Internal Revenue ; 
I also knew that he had eight or ten men whose duty it was 
to patrol the Rio Grande and intercept smugglers, and I 
asked him to give Jerome one of these places which carried 
good pay if I remember right, one hundred dollars a month, 
and the use of a horse, and he promptly appointed him. I 
heard nothing more of him until a short time after we went 
to Del Rio, when one day a carriage drove up to my quarters 
and to my astonishment there was Jerome dressed in the 
height of fashion. Of course, he stopped with me and told 
me that night that he had been transferred to the office of 
the Collector of Internal Revenue at Corpus Christi, that 
he was now the Deputy Collector and was out on an in- 
specting tour. He stayed with me two days and then went 
on. Shortly after I went on a scout; on my return Mary 
told me that he had stopped there on his return and spent 
a day with her. She had told him of my efforts to get a 
college detail, as they were called, and that I had failed. 
He expressed his sympathy, but said nothing more. I 
learned that he wrote his father in New York, that his 
father was an intimate personal friend of the then Presi- 
dent of the United States, Arthur, and that his father asked 
the President to give me one of these details, as a partial 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 319 

payment, as he expressed it, for my kindness to his son; 
this is the way that I obtained that detail. It was very 
acceptable to me for it took me away from Captain Carraher ; 
it also enabled me to be with my family in civilization for 
three years, and to put May in school, for of course there 
was no school on the frontier. I reported at the college in 
September, shipping my household goods there also, and 
we were soon comfortably fixed in a small frame house on 
the college grounds. These Agricultural Colleges, by an act 
of Congress of 1862, were each given a grant of thirty 
thousand acres of land for each member of Congress that 
the state might have. Kentucky at that time had seven 
members of Congress and accordingly received two hundred 
and ten thousand acres of western land; the law required 
that they should sell it, invest the proceeds in good bonds, 
and apply the interest on the money to the college. Besides 
this, Congress gave each college the sum of fifteen thousand 
dollars in cash each year, so that I soon found that this 
college had an income of over twenty thousand dollars a 
year from the Government. The law further provided that 
any of these colleges should have not less than one hundred 
and fifty male students, above the age of fifteen, who should 
be subject to military drill, wear a uniform, and should be 
entitled to an officer of the Army to act as instructor, the 
Government furnishing the arms, equipments, and ammuni- 
tion. When I arrived there, the college had already opened 
and they had about one hundred and fifty students, but I 
found that they had never drawn the arms and equipments 
from the Government ; they had about fifty old muskets that 
had been used during the war, but not a sign of a cartridge 
box, belt or bayonet. The only excuse they gave for not ob- 
taining these arms was that the Government required them 
to give bond in amount double the value of the arms, and 
this they had been unwilling to do. Well, I quickly persuaded 
them to do so and went to Washington to present the request 
in person. I had no trouble in obtaining two hundred new 
cadet rifles, just the same kind as were used at West Point 
at that time, with a full complement of equipments and 
blank cartridges, and I also procured two cannon with the 



320 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

necessary equipments. Like most colleges, they were a great 
deal more anxious to get the appropriation than they were 
to have any military discipline or drill. I found that it was 
simply a farce, and that I was not expected to do much of 
anything, but was very promptly asked to take the position 
of assistant instructor in mathematics, without any pay, 
which I promptly but politely declined. I finally persuaded 
the President, J. K. Patterson, who had been at the head 
of the college since its organization in 1869, and who only 
retired last year, 1909, to allow me one hour a day for 
drill and instruction. The boys soon became interested in 
the drills and dress parades, and made rapid progress. The 
next year the college increased its roll of students, and by 
the time that my detail of three years was up they had 
over four hundred boys, fairly drilled and capable of making 
a respectable appearance, but the discipline was practically 
a farce. The faculty were not willing to punish a student 
for any offense except drunkeness, and it was all I could 
do to get one or two disciplined even for that. College closed 
in June and we immediately went to Urbana to spend the 
summer. 

For several years my mother had had a cottage at Lake- 
side, a kind of Methodist camp meeting ground on Lake 
Erie, a few miles from Sandusky. I had never been there, 
but in August she wrote me and urged me to visit her 
there; accordingly I took May and went up to spend ten 
days in the latter part of August. 

It is not necessary for me to describe Lakeside and 
its beauties, for all my children have been there and know 
it well, but on this, my first visit, I found the place practically 
deserted, there not being probably more than one or two 
hundred people on the grounds. My sister Sue had married, 
some years before, Reverend E. A. Berry, a Congregational 
Minister, and I found both at the cottage. I was then, as I 
always have been, a great smoker, and I took with me a 
box of cigars. The day after I arrived Mr. Berry had to go 
to Detroit, so I drove him across country about six miles 
to the nearest railroad station, for at that time the branch 
road to Lakeside had not been built. When I returned, I went 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 321 

to my box to get a cigar, found it empty, and found in it 
Mr. Berry's card containing the inscription, "Ta, Ta, I hope 
you enjoy yourself." The villain had taken every cigar I 
had. I left and went down to the hotel on the ground ; when 
I told the clerk that I wanted to buy a box of cigars, he al- 
most fainted and told me that no tobacco could be had on 
the grounds, that its sale was absolutely prohibited. The 
nearest town was Sandusky, ten miles distant, and a terrific 
north-east storm, with high winds and heavy rain, was 
raging. There was no way to get to Sandusky except by 
boat, and that, a rickety old affair, was not running; the 
only other way to get there was to drive across the country 
six miles to the same depot that I had taken Mr. Berry. I 
was utterly disgusted and raged up and down the grounds, 
alternately cussing Lakeside and Mr. Berry, and for three 
long days I never had a smoke. On the fourth day I dis- 
covered a gentleman out on the wharf smoking a cigar; I 
supposed I looked longingly at it, for he gave me a quick 
look, then approached me, holding out his hand, and called 
me by name. I saw that he was the gentleman, Mr. True- 
blood, who the previous year had been an instructor at the 
college at Lexington. He laughed and said, "I know what 
is the matter with you ; you are out of cigars." He divided 
what he had with me, and I have blessed his memory ever 
since. The next day I got over to Sandusky, bought a supply 
of cigars and, a few days afterwards, returned to Urbana, 
declaring that I would never go back to Lakeside ; but I have 
spent many happy days there since with my wife and 
children. 

We spent the summers of 1876 and 1877 at Lakeside. 
Mary had a very intimate friend, a widow, from Sidney, 
Ohio, by the name of Jennie Zinn, who spent that summer 
with us, a jolly, lively little woman, to whom we were much 
attached. In August, I received my order relieving me from 
duty at Lexington on the first of September and to report 
to my troop at Fort Clark for duty. Leaving my family at 
Lakeside, I went to Lexington, shipped our household goods 
and went on to San Antonio. 

While at Fort Clark in 1878 May developed a lameness, 



322 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

the result of a fall down stairs; the surgeons announced 
that hip disease had set in and that she must be sent east 
immediately to have a support fitted to her limb, possibly 
to be operated upon. That was just before Elsie was born 
and I could not get away, Aunty took May to Cincinnati ; I 
telegraphed my brother Charley to meet her there and have 
her examined by a specialist. He did so, and they decided 
that no operation was necessary at that time, but fitted a 
brace to her limb and told Aunty that she would have to 
wear it for some years. Aunty then took her to Urbana. In 
about a month I received a letter from her stating that the 
doctors had decided that they would have to perform a 
severe operation upon her, but that May had begged that 
it be postponed until I should get there. As she expressed it, 
"Don't let the 'Goctors' cut me till papa comes, I want him 
to hold my hand." At that time she could not pronounce 
the word "doctor" correctly. As soon as I got the letter I 
telegraphed to a classmate of mine, Charley Morton, 100 now 
a Brigadier General, who was then on recruiting service 
in St. Louis, asking him to get me, if possible, a half -fare 
round-trip ticket from San Antonio to St. Louis, and in- 
closed Aunty's letter to explain why I needed it. Three or 
four days after I received a telegram from Morton saying, 
"Wait, pass coming," and two days afterwards, I received 
a round-trip pass from San Antonio, to Urbana, good until 
used, and I hurried home. To my great relief I found 
Aunty had misunderstood the specialist and no operation 
was necessary. I had been granted ten days' leave to make 
this trip, but started back the next day, as I did not think 
it right to take any more of the ten days' leave than was 
necessary to get back, as my leave was granted under a mis- 
taken supposition, that is that May was to be operated upon. 
I bought a ticket from Urbana to St. Louis, not deeming it 
proper to use the pass again; on arrival in St. Louis went 
to Morton's office to thank him and ask him how he got the 
pass. He told me that, immediately upon receipt of my letter, 

100. Charles Morton was born in Ohio. He enlisted in the Union Army as a 
private, July 29, 1861, and served until September 14, 1864. He graduated from the 
United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Cavalry, 
June 15, 1869. He was promoted to the rank of Captain, November 17, 1883. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 323 

he went to the General Passenger Agent of the Missouri 
Pacific System and asked for a half fare ticket, handing him 
my letter, and also Aunty's, to explain the circumstances. 
He said the General Passenger Agent read the letters and, 
without saying a word, called his stenographer and told him 
to send a dispatch to me, "Wait, pass coming," and immedi- 
ately wrote out a pass and handed it to Morton to send to 
me. Morton started to thank him when he held up his hand 
and said, "Captain, two years ago I was in California and I 
received a dispatch that my little girl was to be operated upon 
immediately for hip disease, and that she had begged the 
doctors to wait for me. I hurried home, but found that they 
could not wait and she had died under the surgeon's knife. 
So long as I am General Passenger Agent no parent shall 
be kept away from his child when an operation is to be 
performed, if I can help it." I asked Morton to take me 
around to his office and introduce me, which he did, and I 
thanked him and handed him back the pass, telling him that 
it was a mistake, that no operation had been or would be 
performed, and that as I had obtained the pass under an 
error I declined to use it. He looked at me a moment and 
then said, "Mr. Phelps, you Army officers are the 'damdest 
fools' in one way of any people that I know. You were not 
to blame for the misunderstanding in any way, and you will 
use that pass to go back or, by George, you will have to go 
over another line. You Army people are too honest and 
square. Now take that pass back," which, of course, I cheer- 
fully did. May recovered very slowly but, by the constant 
and unremitting attention of Aunty and Mary, she finally 
recovered. 

When I left Lakeside this time, I knew that my troop 
would shortly be ordered from Fort Clark to Fort Davis. 101 
I left them behind so that when they did join me they could 
go straight to Fort Davis, as I knew the march from Clark 
to Davis would be a very hard one. I joined my troop at Fort 



101. Fort Davis was established October 7, 1854, on Limpia Creek, in Latitude 
30 36' and Longitude 103 36' to protect the San Antonio-El Paso highway against 
Indians. It was abandoned in April 13, 1861, and reoccupied, July 1, 1867. The reser- 
vation embraced 300 acres. It was abandoned finally on June 30, 1891. The Fort Was 
named in honor of Jefferson Davis. 



324 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Clark and found that my Captain, H. S. Weeks, 102 who had 
been promoted vice Carraher, who had died the previous 
year, was on sick leave, and that the Second Lieutenant, 
Steele, had gone east to be married. Late in September I 
started for Fort Davis. "G" Troop, under command of 
Fechet 103 and "K" Troop, under command of Lieutenant 
Shunk, 104 and my Troop "F," marched together under Cap- 
tain Fechet's command. 

The weather was delightful and we had an exceedingly 
pleasant march. Ducks were plentiful and with my shot gun 
I kept the mess bountifully supplied. Captain Fechet and I 
were old and intimate friends, but that was the first time 
that I had met Lieutenant Shunk. He was over six feet tall, 
very slender and cadaverous, and the most rapid and con- 
tinuous talker that I have ever met. He had a fund of anec- 
dotes, and as we generally rode together at the head of the 
command, he kept us in a roar of laughter a good share of the 
time. I never met a more companionable man, and we have 
been warm friends to this day. On arrival at Fort Davis, I 
found Captain Weeks there, he having passed us on the road. 
I selected a good set of quarters, but did not send for my 
family until February following because it was constantly 
rumored that we were to go to Dakota in the spring. In 
February, Captain Weeks and I determined to put in a com- 
pany garden to raise vegetables for the men, but we delayed 
doing so until we could get some assurance that the regiment 
would not move that spring. At his suggestion, I wrote to 
Major H. J. Farnsworth, 105 of the Inspector General's De- 
partment, then on duty in Washington, an old friend, and 



102. Harrison Samuel Weeks was born in Michigan. He graduated from the 
United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 8th Cavalry, 
June 15, 1868. He was promoted to Captain, April 4, 1885. 

103. Edmond Gustave Fechet was born in Michigan. He enlisted as sergeant in the 
Union Army, June 19, 1861, and was mustered out November 21, 1865, with the rank 
of 1st Lieutenant. He re-enlisted as 2nd Lieutenant, 8th Cavalry, July 2, 1866, and 
was promoted to Captain, May 23, 1870. 

104. William Alexander Shunk was born in Indiana. He graduated from the 
United States Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 8th Cavalry, 
June 13, 1879. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, July 23, 1885. 

105. Henry Joseph Farnsworth was born in New York. He enlisted with the rank 
of Captain of Volunteers, July 8, 1864, and was mustered out, September 1, 1867, 
with the rank of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel. He re-enlisted as 1st Lieutenant, June 
14, 1867, and attained the rank of Major, September 22, 1885. 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 325 

asked him to find out quietly for us if there was any danger 
of the regiment moving that year, explaining my reason. He 
answered that he had gone to the War Department and was 
authorized to say to us unofficially that the regiment would 
not move that year. So we put in our garden and I sent for 
my family. When the family came, my brother's daughter, 
Kate, came also, to my great delight. Kate was a lively girl, 
fond of dancing and company and a great favorite with all 
of us. Lieutenant Sayre, 106 of our regiment, became devoted 
to her at once, and I had unlimited fun joking them both. 
About the first of May Captain Weeks, with whom I had 
been at West Point for three years, and who was a very 
intimate personal friend, was in poor health and, at my sug- 
gestion, we went to a creek about twenty-five miles away to 
camp out for a week to fish and hunt. We took half a dozen 
men with us, a couple of tents, and for three days we had 
a great time, but one evening a soldier of our troop rode into 
camp and handed us letters, saying that the regiment was to 
march for Dakota in ten days. Of course, we hurried back 
to the Post to commence preparations. Kate and Mr. Sayre 
were engaged to be married. I arranged to send my family 
home, as no women and children would be allowed to accom- 
pany the regiment and Kate, of course, was to go with them. 
Mr. Sayre informed me that as soon as he got to Dakota 
he intended to get a leave of absence for four months, go 
to Ohio, where they would be married, and have a wedding 
trip to West Point, New York, Washington and other places. 
I told him that when we got to Dakota he might be unable 
to get his leave of absence, in fact, I doubted it very much. 
I suggested that he and Kate should be married at once, 
that he should turn over to her the money they expected to 
spend on a honeymoon trip and that he should let Kate, under 
Mary's guidance, buy their household goods at Cincinnati 
and ship them to Fort Meade, South Dakota, where he knew 
his station would be. When he got there she could join him, 
or if he could get a leave of absence he could go east on a 
short leave. He thought the plan a wise one and, under the 



106. Farrand Sayre was born in Missouri. He graduated from the United States 
Military Academy and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 8th Cavalry, June 15, 1884. 



326 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

advice of Mary and myself, Kate consented. The family was 
to leave the next day for the railroad station, twenty miles 
away. Sayre and I went down to the little Mexican town 
just below the Post and got the license. We there found a 
poor Methodist Minister and asked him to come to my quar- 
ters the next day at noon to perform the ceremony ; but, as 
we wanted to spring a surprise on the other officers and 
ladies, he must come up at ten o'clock, come in the back way 
and keep out of sight, to which he laughingly agreed. The 
next day about ten o'clock, I sent out a circular notice re- 
questing all the officers and their wives to appear at our 
house for a little surprise party. Not a soul knew what was 
going on; about half past eleven they all gathered on the 
big porch, full of curiosity to know what was to be done. 
The regimental band came marching across the parade 
ground and stopped in front of the house ; immediately fol- 
lowing them was Sayre, Troop "A," and my Troop "F," the 
men appearing in their blue shirts and campaign hats ready 
for the march. This aroused still more curiosity, but still 
nobody guessed. At sharp twelve o'clock Mary came out of 
the hall door with Mr. Sayre, I followed immediately after 
with Kate on my arm, and the little parson came sneaking 
out behind us. Quickly stepping into the middle of the porch, 
Mary and I lined up on opposite sides, the minister stepped 
forward, and, with a gasp of astonishment, everyone saw 
that a marriage was about to take place. Immediately after 
the ceremony there were shouts of congratulations, the band 
played the wedding march, Mary and I passed the wedding 
breakfast, consisting of lemonade and tea cakes, the ambu- 
lance drove up to the door and in thirty minutes they were 
on their way to the depot, I asking Sayre to look out for my 
family, as I was too busy to go. He returned that evening 
and said that they had gotten off safely at four o'clock. I had 
warned him to be careful and get the tickets via New Orleans 
and the Cincinnati Southern Railroad to Cincinnati, and he 
said he had, but a few days afterwards I got a letter from 
Mary stating that before they arrived at New Orleans they 
found that the agent had palmed off on him tickets to New 
Orleans, thence to Vicksburg, thence to Memphis, thence to 



A SOLDIER'S MEMOIRS 327 

Louisville, thence to Cincinnati, which forced them to change 
cars at Vicksburg, Memphis, and Louisville, and added a 
whole day to their journey. I rubbed it in on Sayre for 
weeks afterwards for being so addled as not to be able to 
buy railroad tickets properly. I reported the agent to the 
Railroad Company and he lost his job, as I found out that 
he got a commission by selling tickets that way instead of 
the way that Sayre had asked for. He had asked for the 
tickets all right, but did not take the trouble to examine them. 
On the 17th day of May, one troop having come down 
from Fort Bliss to join us, we formed a line on the parade 
ground ready for the long march to Dakota. Some years 
afterwards I wrote an article for the Cavalry Journal telling 
of this march and this article, which forms the next chapter 
in this little book, will give my children an idea of that march. 

(THE END) 



Notes and Documents 

In connection with the document printed below, the 
reader is invited to read the story of the same event as 
printed in the NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, vol. 22, p. 
146 (April, 1947) . It is recorded in the diary of Dr. James A. 
Bennett who, as a United States Dragoon, participated in this 
fight with the Indians. 

According to Clinton E. Brooks, "This battle is described 
in an account which originally appeared in the Santa Fe 
Gazette on the 15 April, 1854. ... It was taken from the 
official report of General John Garland. It was reprinted in 
the May 27, 1854 issue of the St. Louis Republican. Dr. Ben- 
nett later vividly described the battle in full detail as fol- 
lows :"F. D. R. 

In the spring of 1854 scarcely a day passed without rumors of 
murders and robberies or devastations by the Indians. No single man or 
small party could travel anywhere in the Territory with safety. Twas 
with caution that the people left their doors for they knew not the 
moment that the Red Skin might pounce upon them. 

On the afternoon of the 29th of March, news reached our fort at 
Taos that 1500 head of cattle had been driven off and 2 herders had 
been killed that day. The bugle sounded, "To Arms." 60 young, hardy, 
and as courageous men as our army could boast vaulted into their 
saddles to pursue their aggressors. Night came on as we continued our 
march. A small comet appeared in the sky; by some it was considered 
ominous. A Sergeant remarked to me at the time, "I think we shall 
have a fight and if we do, it will be the last that I shall ever have." 
At midnight we encamped at a little ranch, called the Cienequilla, upon 
the east bank of the Rio Grande. From people here we learned that 15 
Indians had passed the previous evening, driving a large herd of cattle, 
and on their route had killed a white man whose body they left lying in 
their track. 

At the first sign of day we were up and off. 'Twas a lovely morning. 
The rays of the sun were reflected upon the snow crowned mountains 
and gave them a grand and sublime appearance as we neared them in 
pursuit of the foe. During the night 2 men had deserted and 3 more 
had been sent along the bank of the river to see if any Indians had 
crossed, leaving our party 57 strong. Eight o'clock that morning found 
us in a deep ravine about 5 miles from our night's encampment. We 
passed through a narrow defile and came suddenly upon the trail of at 
least 400 Indians. This we did not expect but we were in the trap and 

328 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 329 

must depend upon our own efforts to escape total annihilation. The 
column was brought to a halt. The last man had scarcely entered 
through the defile when a yell burst forth that caused each heart to 
stand still. The echo resounded from rock to cliff and ere it died away 
200 warriors sprang upon the rocks in view above us. 

The report of a rifle was heard. The ball whistled by and another 
followed in quick succession, taking effect upon one of the horses. 'Twas 
the work of a moment to secure our horses, form a line, and charge up 
the mountain. The soldiers, never heeding danger, rushed madly on and 
into the very camp of the Indians. Volley followed volley but we drove 
them back. They left 8 dead bodies upon the field but only one of our 
men was killed. We supposed the worst was over. Alas! It was but 
the beginning. 

8 men remained in charge of our horses, and no sooner had we 
driven the Red Skins from their camp than these 8 men called for 
assistance. We immediately rallied upon our horses and found that 
the Indians had made 3 unsuccessful attempts to seize them. In so 
doing they had wounded 2 or 3 men. Several horses, smarting from 
the pain of their wounds, were rearing, kicking, plunging, and causing 
others to break loose, go flying among the Indians, and be caught by 
them. 

We took our position outside and around our animals, forming a 
circle for our own and their protection. Shots followed each other in 
rapid succession. We heard the monotonous sound of the savages' 
drum upon the hill. Indians shouted from point to point. Their dusky 
forms, gliding with the agility of the deer from rock to rock and creep- 
ing ever nearer our party, discharged with deadly aim their pieces. 
With sudden demoniacal yells the savages would rush upon us from 
all directions at once and fire. Their volley would be responded by the 
dying groans of poor fellows whose fates were sealed. Some victims 
shouted, "I'm shot! I'm shot!" and fell to the ground to welter in their 
own blood and die without a sympathetic word. Others cried for help 
when no help was to be had. 

But do not suppose the soldiery had been idle all this time. The 
Indians are seen hurrying to and fro on the heights above us. One 
gives a bound in the air and falls a corpse; his body is at once seized 
and hurried into the background. Another rides upon the hill, and wears 
an air of defiance as he sits upon one of our captured steeds; the loud 
report of a Sharps rifle is heard and the horse plunges forward . . . 
but riderless. Men are falling dead and wounded on all sides. The foe 
have gradually lessened the dimensions of our circle. The trees and 
boulders are no longer a protection for us, and something must be 
done. One half hour more in this position and not a man would be left 
to tell the tale. 

We concluded, after five hours of fighting, to retreat. Leading our 
horses we neared the narrow defile through which we had entered this 
ambuscade and observed the pass was literally lined with these fiends 



330 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

in human form waiting to finish their well-planned slaughter. No time 
was to be lost. We turned to the right and commenced the ascent of a 
steep, abrupt mountain with scattered underbrush on its face. The 
moment we changed our direction, the Indians left their hiding places 
and hurried up the mountain before us. As we reached the summit, 
another inhuman yell burst forth and the savages poured upon us in 
scores, rushing up face to face. Rifle and pistol balls, arrows and 
lances flew in all directions, dealing death and destruction. Some 
grappled hand to hand with drawn sabre cutting right and left. All 
dragoons came to the conclusion that they must die there and knew 
that death was preferable to being taken captive. Both parties fought 
like tigers. After 10 to 15 minutes, the Indians gave way and fell back. 
Our number of able-bodied men was getting small. The wounded 
men were placed in the center. We then moved along the top of the 
ridge of the mountain for another half mile. While going that half 
mile the Indians made 7 successive charges upon us and were repulsed 
each time by our sturdy little band. The seventh and last of the charges 
beggars description. No tongue can tell it ; no pen can write it as it was ; 
only he who saw can know. The Indians seemed to make one grand rally 
and were determined to crush us at once. One fierce deafening volley 
came from the firearms. For a moment we were enshrouded by a dense 
volume of smoke. As the passing breeze wafted it past us, a cloud of 
iron-pointed arrows came hissing in our midst, darkening the air and 
strewing the ground beneath our feet. Men shouted in despair but 
determined to fight to the last. Horses writhing with death pangs 
trampled men underfoot, and rushed headlong over the precipice, 
falling a mangled mass of flesh and blood in the abyss below. The noble 
sergeant who predicted his death . . . where is he? Look in the midst 
of the battle where danger is thickest. Noble fellow! Sword in one hand, 
pistol in the other, countenance pale but firm, he contends with 5 
stalwart braves. Three arrows are buried in his body but still he beats 
them back. 

Once more the Indians recede. The pieces are loaded with all pos- 
sible dispatch, and the last ammunition is in the guns. Look at those 
faces. Not one ray of hope illumines their sky. Simultaneously those 
having horses mount them, thrust their spurs into the flanks of the 
steeds, and make one great last effort to force their way through the 
circle formed around them. Shot follows shot; their way is obstructed 
by the foe who would still hold their game. They crowd their horses 
upon the Indians. The last shot is discharged. The heavy sabre, seen 
to glisten in the air, falls with a heavy blow and returns upward reek- 
ing with gory blood. The circle is broken ; still there is hope. Our little 
band pass over a bridge of mangled bodies of friends and foes. One ex- 
clamation bursts from every lip, "Forward, Forward for Life!" On we 
rushed our noble steeds of war, trained to Indian warfare, with their 
nostrils extended, straining every sinew, bounding over every impedi- 
ment, and mangling the bodies beneath their feet. Just at this moment 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 331 

the 3 soldiers sent to the river in morning were seen descending a 
mountain path. The Indians, supposing reinforcements were approach- 
ing, turned and fled from us. We also continued our flight. 



The letter below has been transcribed from a microfilm 
copy in the library of the University of New Mexico. The 
original is housed in the National Archive, Washington, B.C., 
among the incoming correspondence, superintendency of 
New Mexico, office of Indian affairs, old records. F.D.R. 

Head Quarters Fort Defiance, N. M. 
June 12th 1856 
Sir- 
Having recently distributed certain farming tools to the Zuiiis 
& Moquis entrusted to me for that purpose by Agent Mayers, I 
deem it my duty to communicate to you the result of my observations 
at those Pueblos. So isolated are they, and so naturally dependent 
upon this post, that I trust you will excuse me in this matter. 

Zuni, 60 miles South of us, has improved considerably since I last 
saw it, two years ago. Its people appeared more cheerful, better clad, 
more provident and many than before; I think they are increasing, 
and now number some 1300 or 1400 persons. 

They slowly enlarge the area of their planting grounds, under the 
stimulus afforded them by our market. I gave them four plows 
intended to be used with mules or horses, and, at their request, I 
showed them the manner of using them; by all means they should 
have been calculated for use with oxen. At present they have no 
other proper draught animals, nor is it desirable that they should 
have. The possession of many mules or horses will assuredly lead 
to a taste for roving habits, if, indeed the Navajoes do not rob them 
of all such animals. 

Two or three, possibly four, plows may be given them pr. year 
with advantage. But beyond this I am certain to give them any thing 
will, in every way, have a very bad tendency. 

The Corn which we purchase in Zuni costs us there some $4000.00 
pr. an. They also sell considerable to the Navajoes. In this way they 
have means enough of making every proper purchase. Gifts to them 
can only lead to idleness. 

The so called "Seven Pueblos of Moqui" are situated some 90 or 
100 miles to the West of us. While the Zunis have descended from 
those who once lived in the "Seven Cities of Cibola" of Castafieda, 
the seven villages of Moqui are the identical "Seven Cities of 
Turayan," but neither have any reliable traditions. Six of these 
Pueblos are in clusters of three each, these clusters being some seven 



332 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

miles a part; seven miles farther from us is the single pueblo of 
Oraibe, the largest of all. 

All of them are built of stone, upon rocky cliffs, some 200 or 300 
feet above the valley, and wholly inaccessible to any but the most sure 
footed beast. 

At present there may be some 2000 or 2500 inhabitants in these 
seven Pueblos. They say that their numbers are decreasing, which is 
undoubtedly true. In fact, unless some thing be done for them, they 
are doomed to utter extinction; that something can not be done too 
soon. 

Their viscious system of intermarriage has deprived them of all 
manliness, & the Navajoes ride over them rough shod. It will be 
very difficult to puebloize the latter while the Moquis give so unfavor- 
able an example of that system; for this reason, if for none other, 
it would be well to resuscitate those Pueblos. For this, the most 
important thing is to give them a market; the next is that they should 
have a special agent. Such an agent might have the care of the Zunis 
also. When it is remembered horn completely isolated from all others 
these Pueblos are, and how exposed they are to inroads by wild 
Indians, it seems not to be asking too much for them. Still, if it be 
so deemed, then the Pueblos of Acoma, Laguna, and Pojuate, might be 
entrusted to his care. All these Pueblos form a tolerably well denned 
district, of which Fort Defiance is the most central occupied point. 

If there be any where a Missionary who is really anxious to prac- 
tice self-denial, and to "take up his cross" he will find an open field at 
Moqui. 

This post is ready to take all the corn which they can produce, 
the only thing which they will have for sale for many years to come. 
Besides the directly favorable effect of such a market, our visits there 
would be a check upon the exactions of the Navajoes. 

But in order that we can buy their corn it is absolutely necessary 
that an accessible store house should be built near each of the clusters, 
and one at Oraibe; the Moquis are anxious that this should be done. 
I think $1000.00 would build all these store houses; but I can not 
with propriety ask Genl. Garland to make the cost chargeable to Army 
appropriations. 

I can make the doors and windows here, and from along our road 
can cut and haul the roofing timbers. This the Moquis can not do, & if 
they could, it would cost them one half of the entire expense. It would 
be proper that I should do this only upon condition that the buildings 
should be used for the sole purpose of storing corn by our recognized 
agent, and that whether the Pueblos are "Citizens" or not, no powder, 
lead or ardent spirits, shall be sold in them without the consent of the 
superintendent of Indian affairs in this Territory, and that of the 
Commanding officer of this post. 

When these Store houses are put up, every inducement to industry 



NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 333 

will have been afforded them. But it is absurd to give them farming 
utensils, when they already produce more than they want, and can not 
sell the surplus. When a market is thus afforded them, not one dollar 
should be given them; it will have the most pernicious tendency. It 
will not only lead to idleness directly, but will destroy the necessity of 
a market; and such is their character that they will at once expect to 
be supported by the Government. The giving these people a market 
I believe to be not only the cheapest and most efficient means of 
saving them, but without it I am certain that all other efforts will be 
entirely fruitless. The influence that so small an expenditure, if it 
restores these Pueblos, will have upon the wild Indians, ought not to 
be overlooked. 

I ask for this subject your favorable consideration. If you deem 
it beyond your power to authorize such an expenditure, I then ask 
that you will refer the matter to higher authority. 

In the mean time I will thank you if you will inform me of your 
views in the premises . 

I am Sir, 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedt. Servt. 
(signed) H. L. Kendrick. 
Captn. 2nd Artillery & B. Major 

Commg. Fort Defiance. 
To 

Hon. D. Meriwether 
Gov. & Sup. Indian Affairs 

Santa Fe, N. Mex. 

Copy for Commissioner of Indian Affairs 
H. L. Kendrick 

Bt. Maj. & Comd. Post 



Book Reviews 

Sun in the Sky. Walter Collins O'Kane. Norman, Oklahoma : 
University of Oklahoma Press, 1950. Pp. xvii, 261. Illus- 
trated. $4.00. 

This volume comprises number thirty in The Civilization 
of the American Indian Series, which the University of Okla- 
homa Press began to publish in 1932. As its contribution it 
presents a well-rounded picture of the life of the Hopi In- 
dians who reside in a dozen settlements in northeastern Ari- 
zona. The book is of particular interest because the Hopi are 
a large tribe who have managed to retain much of their abo- 
riginal culture right down to our own day. 

A reader's reaction to Sun in the Sky will be greatly in- 
fluenced by the point of view from which he judges the work. 
If he is an anthropologist who hopes to find information be- 
yond what is already available in technical journals, he is apt 
to be disappointed. If, on the other hand, the reader is a lay- 
man who is curious to learn something about Hopi customs, 
he is likely to be well-satisfied. Since the author does not 
claim to be writing for a professional audience, it is only 
proper that his book should be evaluated from the standpoint 
of a lay reader. 

Sun in the Sky affords an overall view of contemporary 
Hopi Indian life, but historical or background material is 
supplied wherever necessary. Most of the volume is based 
upon the author's personal experiences and observations. 
These extend over a number of years and range over the full 
extent of Hopi territory, but the main emphasis appears to 
fall on Moenkopi and other progressive or acculturated vil- 
lages, rather than on the old, conservative pueblos on the 
mesa tops. Clever use of the first person creates an atmos- 
phere in which the reader feels himself accompanying the 
author on his various journeys about the reservation. In this 
way one comes to be familiar with the harsh but colorful en- 
vironment in which the Hopi live, and gradually acquires an 
understanding of their daily habits, working pursuits, re- 
ligious beliefs, and contacts with other Indians and Whites. 

334 



BOOK REVIEWS 335 

The author is at his best when dealing with native arts and 
crafts, but his grasp of the complicated socio-religious sys- 
tem is rather weak. 

The entire work is suffused with Professor O'Kane's 
warm sympathy and affection for his Hopi friends. Indeed, 
his enthusiasm is so great that occasionally it betrays him 
into dealing idealistically rather than realistically with his 
material. There is a tendency to omit or gloss over anything 
unpleasant or improper according to White American stand- 
ards. Among other things, one is given the impression that 
the Hopi are clean and tidy, which is not the case; and the 
neat living room that is pictured on page 112 is anything but 
typical of the general run of residences. 

In spite of occasional flaws, Professor O'Kane's book 
gives ample evidence that he is a keen observer and a good 
reporter. His text is clear and readable, and its value is en- 
hanced by a large number of original photographs and a use- 
ful index. When one realizes that by profession the author is 
an entomologist, the wonder is not that he has committed an 
anthropological error here and there, but that he has pro- 
duced so sound a portrayal of one of the most complex Indian 
cultures still functioning within the borders of the United 
States. 
University of Michigan MISCHA TITIEV 

Albert N. Williams. Rocky Mountain Country. American 
Folkways, no. 20. General editor, Erskine Caldwell. New 
York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1950. Pp. xxv, 289. $3.50. 

Albert Williams, a fourth generation Coloradoan, says 
that "Rocky Mountain Country is mostly the mountains in 
Colorado, plus the fringe along the southern border of Wyo- 
ming and the few fingers that jut down into New Mexico." 
(xvi) Herein are six great ranges, the Front or Rampart, 
Sangre de Cristo, San Juan, Sawatch, Park, and Medicine 
Bow, as well as a number of lesser ones. Here also are more 
than fifty of the eighty peaks in the United States which at- 
tain or exceed an elevation of fourteen thousand feet. 

Between the ranges lie the Colorado, Platte, Arkansas, 



336 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

and Rio Grande river valleys, fruit and vegetable gardens of 
today. Within this region are the great mineral fields : Clear 
Creek, Cripple Creek, Blue River Canyon, Aspen, Leadville, 
Silver Cliff, and Silverton (see five maps, following p. xxv). 

The author has examined the evolution of this Rocky 
Mountain Country in a series of chapters dealing with ex- 
plorers (Spaniards and Anglo-Americans), fur traders, Pa- 
cific trails, early gold rushes, and the Civil War. This much 
of the volume seems to the reviewer to constitute a Part One 
of the book. Then follow two chapters, one on mining in the 
Leadville area, devoted mainly to the fantastic career of 
Horace Tabor, the other on mining in the Cripple Creek area, 
woven about the career of Winfield Scott Stratton. 

What might be a third part of the book is comprised in 
the "sociological" chapters on labor (Ch. IX, "Men with 
Grievances") and agriculture (Ch. X, "Men with Hoes"), 
and a final chapter as an evaluation of a regional type, "The 
Rocky Mountain Man of Today." 

Mr. Williams has written a book that will hold the inter- 
est of most readers. His style is vivid, sprightly, and earthy, 
by turns, according to the needs of his material, and he has 
amply justified the thesis that there is a Rocky Mountain 
Country which may be studied as a region. Or, to put the 
matter differently, he shows that there is as much justifica- 
tion for applying a regional study technique to the Rocky 
Mountain Country as there is for any other "region" which 
may be singled out. 

It seemed to this reviewer that a regional technique is 
weakest when used with reference to such subject as "Labor 
Troubles." Here greater insight into the problem may be 
gained by studying the labor question across the board, as 
it were, than as an aspect of the development of a region. 
True, there were (and are) unique situations which would 
develop in the field of labor relations in a mining frontier, 
but the study of unique features loses much of its meaning if 
such study obscures the general, common features of a sub- 
ject. For instance, an appreciation of the economic structure 
of the United States in April 1914 would not permit one to 
interpret the "Ludlow massacre" as a time when "For a few 



BOOK REVIEWS 337 

horrible days the United States tottered on the brink of revo- 
lution in the bolshevik manner." (p. 237). Colorado is not 
the only locality in the United States wherein struggles be- 
tween labor and management have been violent. 

Finally, are there traits which define a Rocky Mountain 
type man? Mr. Williams believes there are, or at least that 
such traits are developing (he states, p. 272, that . . . "Rocky 
Mountain Country is just coming into its own regionalism." 
. . . ) . It is certainly true that a unique region should produce 
a unique type (or vice versa) , or that the very concept of a 
regional study rests upon the existence of a unique type. To 
date, the author believes that the Rocky Mountain type is 
one who "... prefers to lay away the cares of the work-a-day 
world and seek the other values that lie beneath the surface 
of a man's personality." (loc. tit.) . 

How such a type would have emerged out of some three 
or four generations of fur seekers, ore seekers, and land seek- 
ers, the reviewer would not know, though he would acknowl- 
edge that some differences would have to develop between 
people who live in the vivid consciousness of natural gran- 
deurs as opposed to those who, for example, are surrounded 
by man-made grandeurs of a strictly urban life. 

THEODORE E. TREUTLEIN 
San Francisco State College, California 

Records and Maps of the Old Santa Fe Trail. Kenyon Riddle. 
Pp. 104. [1949] Privately printed by the Author. Raton, 
New Mexico. 

The genesis of this book lies in Mr. Riddle's boyhood in- 
terest in the Santa Fe trail. A civil engineer by profession, 
he has devoted his spare hours throughout a life time to a 
study of this subject. 

The best part of the book, and the real contribution by 
the author, are five pocket folding maps which present a de- 
tailed historical picture of the trail. They are based on in- 
tensive study, including much field work, and are probably 
the best to be found. A stiff card ruler accompanies the 



338 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

maps for the convenience of readers who wish to measure 
distances. 

The author states that the trail has been marked in the 
past in relation to the route of the Santa Fe railroad. His 
maps link the trail to the modern highways for the con- 
venience of motorists. Pages 36-37 constitute an index to the 
map. Each numbered historical place on the map has a cor- 
responding number in the text followed by a description. 

Mr. Riddle makes a plea for the placing of correctly lo- 
cated highway historical marks. Some of them now in place, 
he contends, are inaccurate and ought to be changed. 

The material in this book is not well organized. There 
are numerous excerpts from primary and secondary his- 
tories of the trail. The story could have been told more in 
the author's own words. However, it will be of interest to 
many people, and the maps will be especially useful. F.D.R. 

The Valley Below. Alice Marriott. Norman, Oklahoma : Uni- 
versity of Oklahoma Press, 1949. Pp. 243. $3.00. 

In Maria: The Potter of San Ildefonso, Alice Marriott 
wrote sensitively and often beautifully of the life of a people 
alien to her. In order to be near her work at the pueblo, she 
set up housekeeping with Margaret Lef ranc, artist and crea- 
tor of fine illustrations for Maria and this present book, in a 
Spanish-American valley community nearby. The Valley 
Below is an account of their life in that community, the hum- 
orous approach dominant, the serious present too, to make 
an interesting blend. To say all this so solemnly is a little 
foolish and foolhardy, for Miss Marriott, in having a thor- 
oughly witty time, has thrust now and then at the solemni- 
ties, even those of her profession, ethnography. 

In the first part of the book she takes us humorously, 
even hilariously at times, through the discomforts and mis- 
haps of refurbishing an old 'dobe house, dealing with an 
earnest but inept handyman, controlling a houseful of irra- 
tional Siamese cats, getting water out of a perverse well and 
equally perverse well experts, battling the eccentricities of a 
coal and wood stove, negotiating the intricacies and doubts 



BOOK REVIEWS 339 

of house-buying, getting peace and sleep during the noc- 
turnal debates of rights to irrigation water, the purse-empty- 
ing, house-crowding mania for pottery, the trials of building 
an addition to the house. There has been some method in this 
approach. Chapter XIII begins: "Now I seem to have 
reached the point, according to ethnological custom, where 
I must go beyond the household and its dwelling, and define 
and describe the surrounding community in relation to the 
specific unit." So the latter half of the book, maintaining 
the humorous approach, though with less dominance, deals 
with the social life of Indians and Spanish-Americans, end- 
ing in a series of well-told little stories of the neighboring 
Maclovio Salazars, and a sensitively felt story of the Peni- 
tentes. Thus the book that began "with the idea of an orderly 
description of a society" became one "about a house and its 
being lived in, and about some of the people who came and 
went there." It traced also a change in the two women. "The 
impersonality of being moderately successful, urban, pro- 
fessional women was gone from us. We were women, and 
our neighbors came to us for help because they knew we 
would understand and would give it." 

There are some things one regrets about this book, re- 
grets them because Alice Marriott writes so well. Despite 
her own denials of success in portraying a society, a good 
deal of understanding does come through, but it has to make 
its way through the convention that controls the book. The 
convention goes something like this. An urbanite, feeling 
decay in the city, indeed in his own culture in general, turns 
to "the simple life." He does not do it with the whole-hearted 
romanticism of, say, a St. John de Crevecoeur. He sees some 
of the lighter ironies and laughs at his discomfiture. The 
Atlantic used to run sketches of this sort for its urban read- 
ers, and still does occasionally. And slick humor uses the 
idea. The convention has many extensions. Sometimes the 
adventurer not only finds the natives inept, costly, but lov- 
able, but is himself a competent, self-reliant person who may 
with ingenuity control the situation. As long as this happens, 
we get more of the narrator than of the native. Miss Mar- 
riott's first chapter starts off so thoughtfully, in such finely- 



340 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

woven prose, that one expects more objectivity than he gets. 
The humor, as I said, is lively, and understanding comes 
through. But the enigmas of alien ways, that we would like 
to solve rather carefully, remain incompletely penetrated. 
One would like to see Miss Marriott try a serious approach in 
fiction, something like that of Katherine Anne Porter. 

University of New Mexico E. W. TEDLOCK, JR. 

Western Land and Water Use. Mont H. Saunderson, Denver, 
Colorado: University of Oklahoma Press, 1950. Pp. xi, 
217. $3.75 

Americans living east of, say, the 100th meridian, have 
long been apathetic toward the problems of Western land and 
water. Call it provincialism, political immaturity or ordinary 
ignorance. That's the way it is, or has been. 

The Easterner whose view of the West hitherto has been 
bounded by Pike's Peak and Yellowstone Park on one side 
and Hollywood, in Technicolor, on the other, is due an 
awakening. Western resources were never the exclusive con- 
cern of the West, and they are less so today. In fact, if one 
were collecting specimens of public policy issues of gravest 
importance to the nation, he might concentrate on the subject 
of this volume without missing much. It appears that it is 
high time for national comprehension of a national problem. 
Historical developments are forcing it. 

Not all the lack of a Western consciousness is the fault 
of the inhabitants of other regions. Until now, nobody has 
come forward with a very striking analysis of the great ar- 
ray of policy questions confronting the West. Except in iso- 
lated spectra, the picture simply has not been painted for the 
layman's eye to see. Generally, the literature has appeared in 
one of two forms the gaudy metaphor of the novelist and 
scenario writer and the soggy jargon of the researcher. In 
short, the curious few have had a choice between a literary 
hot foot or a sleeping pill. 

Mont Saunderson attempts in Western Land and Water 
Use to tell the story accurately without stifling the reader. 
It's a good try, the best to date, even though the book does 



BOOK REVIEWS 341 

not quite fulfill the somewhat lavish promise of its dust 
jacket: the author ". . . spares no interests, either private or 
governmental . . ." and he "proposes stringent measures. . . ." 
For those who are familiar with the subject, the treatment 
here provides little that is new or surprising. Its merit lies 
in the scope and comparative palatability which Saunderson 
manages to attain in a field of study that usually lacks both. 

Western Land and Water Use contains a factual account 
of public ownership in the West, of taxation and its effects 
upon land values, of such federal legislation as the Taylor 
Act, of reclamation and forestry, of river-basin development. 
To that extent, it is a reference manual. Of far greater sig- 
nificance is its omnipresent backdrop of public vs. private 
control of Western land and water. This volume moves into 
bitterly controversial areas, and if it fails to come up with the 
solid answers, who has? Certainly not the Hoover Commis- 
sion, which became slightly unhinged when it tackled some 
of the same questions from the standpoint of public adminis- 
tration. 

The problem begins with the protection of water reserves 
in the upland watershed lands and reaches a climax in the 
multi-purpose valley developments. Along the way are the 
clashing interests of ranch operators, state and local govern- 
mental units, and such federal agencies as the Bureau of 
Reclamation, Department of Agriculture, Army Engineers, 
Federal Power Commission, Forest Service and the National 
Park Service. For variety, there is the relatively new crea- 
tion, the valley authority. An integrated policy aimed at re- 
conciling these diverse interests presents about as many al- 
ternatives as there are general theories of government. 

To stop the deterioration of watershed lands and conse- 
quent sedimentation, Saunderson warns that "corrective ac- 
tion must come through public programs for land and water 
use, in recognition of the public interest in a resource-conser- 
vation problem that is now beyond the scope and means of 
the farms and ranches that use the land." Permanent federal 
public ownership is probably a closed question "for the lands 
that have important watershed, forestry, and recreation 
values." Hydroelectric power is the key to federal reclama- 



342 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

tion development, and "we should have much more public 
interest, debate, and participation in the planning of pro- 
grams and projects." 

Saunderson was on leave from the U. S. Forest Service 
during the preparation of this book, but he did not leave be- 
hind the remarkable esprit de corps of that organization. The 
Forest Service receives gentle treatment, and the flexibility 
of its management program draws special praise. It is upon 
privately owned holdings, estimated to contain about 90 per- 
cent of the total forest-land growth capacity, that interest 
must center, he argues, if an acute timber shortage is to be 
avoided. 

River engineering has been overemphasized, in the au- 
thor's view. "There appear to be important but as yet unde- 
veloped interrelationships between the drainage reclamation 
of wet lands and other drainage, and the work of flood control 
downstream. Thus it seems more and more apparent that the 
control, development, and use of water resources of a major 
drainage basin should be accomplished through basin-wide 
plans and programs." For carrying out river-basin planning 
and development, Saunderson proposes the establishment of 
a federal-state commission and a program supported by par- 
allel legislation by the states. 

As for those who scoff at joint federal-state action, he 
adds: "Can they propose a more workable plan?" Short of a 
unified, all-enveloping federal program, can they indeed? 

Texas A&M College JOE R. MOTHERAL 

The Epic of the Chaco: Marshal Estigarribia's Memoirs of 
The Chaco War 1932-1935. Edited and annotated by 
Pablo Max Ynsf ran. The University of Texas, Institute of 
Latin-American Studies, Latin-American Studies, VIII. 
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1950. Pp. xv, 221. 
Illustrated and maps. 

The Epic of the Chaco, the story of Paraguay's border 
war against Bolivia in 1932-1935, is a familiar story in the 
chronicles of war: that of the valiant fight by a weaker 
nation against the aggressions of a more powerful neighbor 



BOOK REVIEWS 343 

seeking expansion and aggrandizement under the guise of 
protecting its own national interests. 

Marshal Jose Felix Estigarribia, General of the Army, 
entered the military services of Paraguay as a second lieu- 
tenant in 1910. His later successes in the Chaco War indicate 
that he possessed that natural insight and ability of the suc- 
cessful military leader of knowing not only how but when 
to apply his knowledge of the military sciences. In 1927 he 
was offered and accepted the post of Assistant Chief of Staff 
of the Paraguayan Army and later, the post of Chief. 

The area under dispute in the Chaco War was that section 
of northwest Paraguay in the triangle formed by the junc- 
tion of the Paraguay and Pilcomayo Rivers. It is contiguous 
to Argentina on the south, Brazil on the north, and Bolivia. It 
is primarily a vast waterless plain, covered mostly by bushes 
of hardwoods and cactus. The acquisition of this wasteland 
would provide for Bolivia an outlet on the Paraguay River 
leading to the open sea, a commercial convenience not en- 
joyed by that South American nation since the loss of her 
Pacific seaboard to Chile in 1879. The loss of this vast ter- 
ritory would be for Paraguay an amputation of over a third 
of her national territory and a serious blow to her national 
pride. 

Bolivia commenced inroads into the Chaco as early as 
1927 along the Pilcomayo River in the south and later, as 
motor transportation became available, into the interior of 
the Chaco itself. Paraguay's Chief of Staff attempted to coun- 
ter these moves by the establishment of Paraguayan centers 
of resistance in the areas of the greatest Bolivian menace 
and by the development of lines of communication into the 
interior by the construction of telegraph lines and roads. 
Estigarribia was dismissed from his post as Chief of Staff 
in 1928 as the result of a dispute over his policies, and his 
counter-offensive preparations were abandoned. Paraguayan 
military policy, as well as their troops, withdrew to the inner 
boundary of the Chaco along the Paraguay River. 

Bolivia, however, was not blessed with a pacifistic policy 
and, aided by the renouncement of Estigarribia' s defensive 
policies, continued her advancement into the Chaco as fast 



344 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 

as the weather and construction of roads would permit. When 
another tour as Chief of Staff in 1930 ended in dismissal for 
the same reasons as before, Estigarribia decided to concen- 
trate his efforts in a smaller field and offered to organize, in 
the threatened Chaco itself, a Division of troops, a major 
military sub-division not yet reached by the small Para- 
guayan Army. His offer was accepted. It was Estigarribia's 
division that was first involved in an outpost skirmish on 
July 15, 1932, that brought into actuality the "hot war" with 
Bolivia. Estigarribia occupied the unique position in this war 
of being not only the planner but also the executor of the 
Paraguan military strategy. 

In his Memoirs he portrays the fortunes and failures, 
most particularly the fortunes, of the Paraguayan Army in 
the War of the Chaco, in three major subdivisions, namely : 
The Initial Offensive, The Defensive and, part three, The 
Offensive to the End. In Estigarribia's chronicle of the war, 
the layman will find an interesting narrative of battles 
fought against discouraging combinations of superior 
forces and an unfriendly terrain. The student of military 
science will recognize a brilliant application of basic mili- 
tary principles. Faced with a Bolivian penetration into the 
Chaco from all quarters, the Paraguayans under Estigarri- 
bia's direction employed the defensive tactics of a strong 
offense. Limited in the number of troops and supplies avail- 
able, an economy of force was employed by relying on mini- 
mum strength in the north and central sectors to contain 
the Bolivian forces there, while the major portion of the 
Paraguayan Army launched an offensive in the south in 
September of 1932, with good results. 

Unfortunately an overextension of lines of communica- 
tion in the south, plus the spectre that haunts all aggressively 
successful military commanders, lack of sufficient supplies 
and materiel when and where needed, proved too much for 
the straining new Paraguayan Army. Part Two of the Mem- 
oirs records a "strategic withdrawal" along the southern 
front and the assumption of the defensive in the Chaco. The 
arrival of replacements for the combat units and a gratifying 
effort by the Asuncion Government in the matter of war 



BOOK REVIEWS 345 

materiels, placed the Paraguayans in a position to resume the 
offensive by September, 1933, with the Battle of Pampa 
Grande. From that point on, the Paraguayans fought not 
only a numerically superior and better equipped army but a 
despairing lack of supplies, particularly in the line of motor 
transport, so vital to any sustained movement and supply 
over the Chaco Desert. Although occupying the strategi- 
cally advantageous position of operating on interior lines of 
communication along the inner arc of the perimeter instead 
of the outer, Paraguay was handicapped throughout the war 
by this lack of motor transport. Repeated requests for more 
trucks and gasoline to the home government were lost in the 
depth of a rapidly emptying national purse. The Paraguayan 
forces nevertheless continued a series of effective tactical 
moves to overcome local reverses and to roll back sufficient 
Bolivian outposts to gain the banks of the Pilcomayo to the 
south and even the Parapiti River, marking the west central 
limits of the Chaco. 

Ultimately, negotiations initiated jointly by Argentina, 
Brazil, Chile, Peru and the United States were successful in 
bringing the belligerents to agree on terms of an armistice 
and at noon on June 14th, 1935, the cease fire was ordered on 
all fronts in the Chaco, with the national boundaries back 
where they were before three years of war, with thousands 
of dead to show for the effort expended. 

A familiar story in the annals of war and one that will be 
repeated correction, that is being repeated. Korea, 1950. 

University of New Mexico MAJOR D. A. VAN EVERA 



ERRATA 

Vol. 25, p. 41, note no. 8 should state that Fort Leaven- 
worth was located on the Missouri river, not on the Arkansas. 



CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEW MEXICO 
(As amended Nov. 25, 1941) 

Article 1. Name. This Society shall be called the Historical Society 
of New Mexico. 

Article 2. Objects and Operation. The objects of the Society shall 
be, in general, the promotion of historical studies; and in particular, 
the discovery, collection, preservation, and publication of historical 
material especially such as relates to New Mexico. 

Article 3. Membership. The Society shall consist of Members, Fel- 
lows, Life Members and Honorary Life Members. 

(a) Members. Persons recommended by the Executive Council 
and elected by the Society may become members. 

(b) Fellows. Members who show, by published work, special 
aptitude for historical investigation may become Fellows. Immedi- 
ately following the adoption of this Constitution, the Executive 
Council shall elect five Fellows, and the body thus created may there- 
after elect additional Fellows on the nomination of the Executive 
Council. The number of Fellows shall never exceed twenty-five. 

(c) Life Members. In addition to life members of the Historical 
Society of New Mexico at the date of the adoption hereof, such other 
benefactors of the Society as shall pay into its treasury at one time 
the sum of fifty dollars, or shall present to the Society an equivalent 
in books, manuscripts, portraits, or other acceptable material of an 
historic nature, may upon recommendation by the Executive Council 
and election by the Society, be classed as Life Members. 

(d) Honorary Life Members. Persons who have rendered emi- 
nent service to New Mexico and others who have, by published work, 
contributed to the historical literature of New Mexico or the South- 
west, may become Honorary Life Members upon being recommended 
by the Executive Council and elected by the Society. 

Article 4. Officers. The elective officers of the Society shall be a 
president, a vice-president, a corresponding secretary, a treasurer, and 
a recording secretary; and these five officers shall constitute the 
Executive Council with full administrative powers. 

Officers shall qualify on January 1st following their election, and 
shall hold office for the term of two years and until their successor? 
shall have been elected and qualified. 

346 



Article 5. Elections. At the October meeting of each odd-numbered 
year, a nominating committee shall be named by the president of the 
Society and such committee shall make its report to the Society at 
the November meeting. Nominations may be made from the floor 
and the Society shall, in open meeting, proceed to elect its officers by 
ballot, those nominees receiving a majority of the votes cast for the 
respective offices to be declared elected. 

Article 6. Dues. Dues shall be $3.00 for each calendar year, and 
shall entitle members to receive bulletins as published and also the 
Historical Review. 

Article 7. Publications. All publications of the Society and the selec- 
tion and editing of matter for publication shall be under the direction 
and control of the Executive Council. 

Article 8. Meetings. Monthly meetings of the Society shall be held 
at the rooms of the Society on the third Tuesday of each month at 
eight P. M. The Executive Council shall meet at any time upon call 
of the President or of three of its members. 

Article 9. Quorums. Seven members of the Society and three mem- 
bers of the Executive Council, shall constitute quorums. 

Article 10. Amendments. Amendments to this constitution shall be- 
come operative after being recommended by the Executive Council 
and approved by two-thirds of the members present and voting at 
any regular monthly meeting; provided, that notice of the proposed 
amendments shall have been given at a regular meeting of the Society, 
at least four weeks prior to the meeting when such proposed amend- 
ment is passed upon by the Society. 



347 



INDEX 



Abo, The Mission of San Gregorio de . . . , 
by Toulouse, rev'd., 171 

Accountancy, State board, official publica- 
tions, 154 

Agricultural and Mechanical College of Ken- 
tucky, 317ff 

Ainsworth, Capt. Fred Crayton, 308 

Anglo-American and prejudice, 288 

Apache, 54ff, 110 passim, 299 

Apache, Chiricahua, reservation (1913), 36 

Apache, Jicarilla, 31ff 

Apache, Mescalero, 1-36 

Archives, see La Junta 

Army Life, 130 

Army life in Southwest, 37 passim 

Arnold, Samuel (Ireland), 91 

Arthur, Chester A., quoted re cowboy, 98 

Baca, Cruz (1870's), 180 

Bancroft Library, New Mexico documents 
in, 248 

Bank examiner (State), official publications, 
150 

Beach, Fidelia (Mrs. G. A. Goodale), 296 

Bennett, James A., 328 

Berry, Mrs. E. A. (Sue Phelps), 320 

Blackmore, William, by Brayer, rev'd., 78 

Blair, Lieut. Thomas, 197 

Bolton, Lieut. E. B., 304 

Brady, Rev. Cyrus Townsend, quoted re cow- 
boy, lOOf 

Brayer, Herbert Oliver, William Blackmore, 
78 

Brazito, battle of and Fr. Ortiz, 280 

Brisbin, General James S., quoted re West, 
99 

Bronson, Edgar, quoted re cowboy, 101 

Brooks, Clinton E., quoted, 328 

Budget (State), official publications, 15; di- 
rector, ibid., 158 

Bullard, James, 54 

Bullis, Lieut. John L., 202f 

Bustamante family, genealogy, 265 

Canvassing board (State), official publica- 
tions, 158 

Carazillo Spring, 122 

Carraher, Capt. A. P., 306 

Cattle fever, 92 passim; rustlers, 298 ; indus- 
try, 179f 

Cattlemen's war, 94 

Cavalry, the 8th U. S., 40 

Central City, 302 

Chaco, the Epic of the, see Pablo Max Yns- 
fran 

Chan Kom Revisited . . . , by Redfield, 
rev'd., 174 

Chapin, Ann, 298 

Chavez, Fr. Angelico, 244 ; rev., Hallenbeck, 
. . . Marcos de Niza, 255 ; edits "Ramon 
Ortiz. . . ," 265 

Checklist, see Shelton 

Chico, town of, 181 

Chiricahua, see Apache 

Church at El Paso (late 19th Century), 291 

Cienequilla, Indian fight, 328f 

Clayton, town of, 183 

Colton, Harold S., Hopi Kachina Dolls, rev'd, 
254 

Comegys, Edward Tiffin, 207 

Comptroller (State), official publications, 
137 

Conservancy, Rio Grande, documents, 136 

Corporation Commission, official publica- 
tions, 159, 222 



Cottell, Capt. Hampden Samuel, 42 
Council of National Defense (State), official 

publications, 223 
Cowboy, studies of the, 90 ; origin of name, 

91 
"Cowboy Sinner or Saint !, The," by West- 

ermeier, 108 

Cowles, Lieut. C. D., 298 
Cox, Isaac Joslin, rev., Hollon, The Lost 

Pathfinder . . . , 262 
Coxe, Robert Edward, 40 

Daily Leader (Cheyenne), quoted re cow- 
boy, 93, 97 

Daguerre, Alejandro (1860), 289f 

Dale, Edward Everett, The Indians of the 
Southwest . . . , rev'd., 73 

Dargan, Marion, rev., Marshal of the Last 
Frontier, by Tilghman, 85 

Darley, Alex M., quoted re Mexican cow- 
boy, 97 

Davis, Brig.-Gen. George Breckenridge, 117 

Delgado, Fernando, death (1821), 269, note 

Devin, General Thomas C., 52, 131 

Devin Spring, 123 

Diphtheria at Fort Bayard, 302 

Documents, New Mexico, 244-253 

Donovan, Lieut. Edward, 216 

Dona Ana, 50 

Dorsey, town of, 183 

Dorsey, Stephen Wallace, see F. Stanley 

Dramatics at Fort Bayard, 302 

Dry cleaning board, official publications, 57 

Duffield, George C., diary, 92 

Dwelling, see Home 

Education, Indian, 31 passim ; state publica- 
tions, 57, 152 

El Paso and Indian depredation (late 19th 
Century), 289 

Elections, see canvassing board 

Electrical administration board (State), offi- 
cial publications, 58 

Elephant Butte irrigation district, official 
publications, 58 

Eliaz y Gonzales, J. M., Commander El 
Paso, 277 

Employer relations institute, proceedings, 59 

Employment security commission, official 
publications, 59 

Engineer department (State), official pub- 
lications, 60 ; board of registration, ibid., 
156 

Engineers, see New Mexico 

Episcopal church, clergymen, 301 

Estigarribia, Marshal, see Pablo Max Yns- 
fran 

Evans, Lieut. George Howard, 219 

Eyler, Mrs. S. H., daughter of F. E. Phelps, 



Fair commission (State), official publica- 
tions, 225 

Farnsworth, Capt. Henry Joseph, 134, 324 
Fechet, Capt. Edmpnd Gustave, 324 
Federal music project (New Mexico), pub- 
lications, 63 

Federal writer's project (New Mexico), pub- 
lications, 63 
Finance, State board, official publications, 

155 

Floershiem, Sol (1890's), 185 
Foote, Capt. George Franklin, 307 
Fort Bayard, 49f, 131, see Roy Goodale 
Fort Bent (New), 43 



349 



350 



NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 



Fort Bowie, 116 

Fort Clark, 200f 

Fort Craig, 40 ; description, 45 

Fort Cummings, 128 

Fort Davis, 323, note 

Fort Duncan, 200 

Fort Floyd, 54 

Fort Leaven worth, 41 

Fort Lyon, 43 

Fort Mclntosh, 201 

Fort McRae, 134 

Fort Union, 41 

Fort West, 54 

Fort Wingate, 48 

Fountain, Samuel Warren, 40 

Frontier Justice, by Card, rev'd., 170 

Gamble, Rev. Mr., of Silver City, 302 
Card, Wayne, Frontier Justice, rev'd., 170 
George, Dea Thomas, 298 
"German," entertainment?, 302, 303 
Glasgows, Joseph, of El Paso, 291 
Godwin, Edward Ellison, 40 
Gold Mine, a story of, 292 
Goodale, Ephriam, diary, 296 
Goodale, Prof. George Lincoln, 298 
Goodale, Col. George Swazey, 297 
Goodale, Brig. Gen. Greenleaf Austin, 296 
Goodale, Mrs. G. A. (Fidelia Beach), 296 
Goodale, Roy, editor, "A Civilian at Old 

Fort Bayard 1881-1883," 296-304 
Goodale, Roy Lewis, 297 
Granger, General Gordon, 196 
Grassland Historical Studies .... by 

Malin, rev'd., 259 
Gregg, Col. J. Irwin, 195 
Guadalupe, Mission of Nuestra Senora de, 

description of (1838), 273 
Guadalupe-Hidalgo, treaty of, and American 

citizenship, 286f 
Guest, Lieut. John, 208 
Guevara, Pedro Ortiz de, 267 
Guitar, Odon, in War with Mexico, 284 

Hallenbeck, Cleve, The Journey of Fray 

Marcos de Niza, rev'd., 255 
Hardy, Osgood, rev., Piette, . . . Junipero 

Serra . . . , 165 
Hart, Juan, quoted re Ortiz, 294 
Head, Col. R. G., cattleman, 94 
Highway commission, official publications, 

227 

Historical records survey (New Mexico), 63 
Historical Society of New Mexico, minutes 

(1949), 163 

Hodgson, Lieut. Benjamin Hubert, 40 
Hollon, W. Eugene, The Lost Pathfinder: 

Zebulon Montgomery Pike, rev'd., 262 
Home, description of New Mexican (1838), 

Hopi Kachina Dolls, see Colton, 254 

Hopi pueblo, description (1856), 331 

Horseshoe Canyon, 118 

Huff, J. Wesley, necrology, 333 

Humphreys, Lieut. H. H., 128 

Hunt, Lieut. Levi Pettibone, 220 

Hunter, Lieut. Pendleton, 43 

Huntington Library, New Mexico docu- 
ments, 244 

Hutcheson, Austin E., rev., Riegel, Young 
America, 168 

Indian affairs, document, 331 ; campaign, 
see F. E. Phelps, Memoirs, 202ff ; depreda- 
tions, 305 passim; education, 30 passim; 
police, 30f ; war, 299, 304 

Indians of the Southwest .... by Dale, 
rev'd., 73 



Ingersoll, Col. Robert G., 182 

Insurance department (State), official pub- 
lications, 64 

Interstate oil compact commission, official 
publications, 67 

Irrigation, 58 

Irrigation engineer (State), official publica- 
tions, 68 

Jerome, Lieut. Lovell Hall, 317 

.Hear ilia, see Apache 

Jolly, Charlie, cowboy, 94 

Jones, Lieut. Thaddeus Winfield, 203 

Journal ( Fort Worth ) , quoted re cowboy, 

103 

Juarez, Benito, document re, 290 
Juarez, see El Paso 

Keller, Capt. Jacob William, 41 
Kelley, Capt. Joseph Morgan, 220 ; see Kelly 
Kelly, Major William, 55 ; see Kelley 
Kendall, George W., quoted, 278 
Kendrick, H. L., Indian Agent, 333 
Kenard, Edward A., rev., Colton, Hopi Ka- 
china Dolls, 254 
Kerr, Lieut. John Brown, 40 

Labor and industrial commission (State), 

official publications, 68 
La Junta archive (Mexico), 162 
Land Grant to Ortiz (1690's), 268 
Land titles in Mesilla valley, 287 
Law Library (State), reports, 70 
Legislative reference bureau (State), re- 
ports, 71 

Lewis, Alfred Henry, quoted re cowboy, 100 
Library extension service (State), official 

publications, 231 
Love, Nat, quoted re cowboy, 100 

McKibbin, Chambers, soldier, 113 

McLellan, Lieut. Col. Curwen Boyd, 192 note 

Malin, James C., Grassland Historical Stud- 
ies .... rev'd., 259 

Maps of Santa Fe trail, see Kenyon Riddle 

Marcos de Niza, see Hallenbeck 

Marriott, Alice, The Valley Below, rev'd., 
339 

Martin, Joe, cowboy, 94 

Maxon, Lieut. Mason Marion, 203 

Merit system council (State), official pub- 
lications, 71 

Mescalero Agency, picture 1880, 1 

"Mescalero Apache History . . . ," by M. 
E. and C. H. Opler, 1-36 

Mesilla Guard, 9 

Mesilla, New Mexico, 50 

Mesilla valley and War with Mexico, 287 

Mexico, War with, and American citizen- 
ship, 286f ; and El Paso citizens, 282 ; and 
Fr. Ortiz, 280 

Meyers Springs, near lower Rio Grande, 312 

Middle Rio Grande conservancy district, offi- 
cial publications, 136 

Miller, Henry, cowboy, 94 

Mines, State inspector official publications, 
229 

Mining, gold, 31 

Missionary work, see Ramon Ortiz 

Missouri Democrat, quoted re westerner, 107 

Missouri Republican, quoted re cowboy, 104 

Mizner, Col. J. K., 300 

Morton, Brig. Gen. Charles, 322 

Motheral, Joe R., rev., Saunderson, Western 
Land .... 341 

Motor transportation (State), official pub- 
lications, 222 

Mule Spring, 133 

Murray. Lieut. Cunliffe Hall, 202 



INDEX 



351 



Neal, Pitts, cowboy, 103 

Neill, Col. Thomas Hewson, 307 

New Mexico documents, 244-253 

New Mexico Historical Society, founding, 
242 

New Mexico State publications : account- 
ancy, 154 ; bank examiner, 150 ; budget, 
157 ; canvassing board, 158 ; comptroller, 
137 ; corporation commission, 159 ; council 
of national defense, 223 ; dry cleaning, 57 ; 
educational plans and policies, 57 ; educa- 
tional survey board, 58 ; electrical admin- 
istration, 58 ; Elephant Butte irrigation 
district, 58 ; employers relations, 59 ; em- 
ployment security, 59 ; engineer dept., 60 ; 
engineers, 156 ; fair commission, 225 ; fed- 
eral music project, 63 ; federal writers' 
project, 63 ; finance, 155 ; highway com- 
mission, 227 ; historical records survey, 
63 ; insurance dept., 64 ; interstate oil 
compact, 67 ; irrigation engineer, 68 ; labor 
and industrial commission, 68 ; law li- 
brary, 70 ; legislative reference bureau, 71 ; 
library extension, 231 ; merit system coun- 
cil, 71 ; mine inspector, 229 ; motor trans- 
portation, 222 ; nurse examiners, 155 ; oil 
conservation, 138 ; penitentiary, 139 ; plan- 
ning board, 233 ; police, 234 ; public serv- 
ice commission, 142 ; publicity bureau, 
143 ; purchasing agent, 235 ; racing com- 
mission, 235 ; secretary of state, 144 ; tax 
commission, 235 ; tourist bureau, 237 ; 
traveling auditor, 238 ; treasurer, 239 ; vo- 
cational education, 152 

Nichols, Lieut. E. de R., 303 

Nichols, Lieut. Thomas Brainard, 193 

Nogal mining district, 31 

Nourse, S. E., 298 

Nurse examiners, State board, official pub- 
lications, 155 

O'Brien, Wall and Maggie, 300 

Ochoa, Juan, 293 

Ochoa, Ynocente (1860), 290 

O'Connor, Lieut. Stephen, 300 

Ogle, R. H. rev., Dale, The Indians of the 

Southwest .... 73 
Oil conservation commission (State), official 

publications, 138 
Oil! Titan of the Southwest, by Rister, 

rev'd., 75 
O'Kane, Walter Collins, Sun in the Sky, 

rev'd., 335 
Opler, Morris Edward and Catherine H., 

"Mescalero Apache History in the South- 
west," 1-36 
Ord, Brig. Gen. Edward Otho Cresap, 309, 

note 

Ortiz family genealogy, 265 
Ortiz, Ramon, see Fidelia Miller Puckett 

Patrick, Maria L. (Mrs. F. E. Phelps), 38 

Patrick, Mary (Mrs. F. E. Phelps), 38 

Pearson, Ed, 304 

Penitentiary (State), official publications, 
139 

Peyote cult, 35 

Phelps, Elsie L., 305 

Phelps, Fred, 310 

Phelps, Frederick E., memoirs, 37-56, 109- 
135, 187-221, 305-327; portrait, 37 

Phelps, Mrs. Frederick E. (Maria L. Pat- 
rick, 38; Mary Patrick, 38, 199; Anna 
Louise Rawlings, 38) 

Phelps, Margaret, 307 

Phelps, May V., 187 

Phelps, Morris B., death, 187 

Phelps, Sue (Mrs. E. A. Berry), 320 

Piette, Maximin C. J., Le Secret de Juni- 



Tpero Serra, Fondateur de la Californie, 
1769-1784, rev'd., 165 

Pike, Zebulon Montgomery, see Hollon 

Finder, Lieut. Joseph William, 306 

Planning board (State), official publications, 
233 

Police, Indian, 30f ; State, official publica- 
tions, 234 

Pond, Lieut. George Enoch, 217 

Pope, Maj. Gen. John, 41 

Pratt, O. C., 304 

Prejudice in New Mexico, 288 

Public service commission (State), official 
publications, 142 

Publicity bureau (State), official publica- 
tions, 143 

Puckett, Fidelia Miller, "Ramon Ortiz: 
Priest and Patriot," 265-295 

Pueblo Indian Affairs, document, 331 

Purchasing agent (State), official publica- 
tions, 235 

Racing commission (State), official publica- 
tions, 235 

Railroad, and Indians, 312 ; transportation 
pass, 316, 323 

Range war, 94 

Rattlesnake Plain, 122 

Rawlings, Anna Louise (Mrs. Frederick E. 
Phelps), 38 

Reade, Lieut. Philip, 195 

Redfield, Robert, A Village that Chose Prog- 
ress: Chan Kom Revisited, rev'd., 174 

Reed, Erick K., rev., Toulouse, The Mission 
of San Gregorio de Abo .... 171 

Reeve, Frank D., editor, "Frederick E. 
Phelps: a Soldier's Memoirs," 37-56, 109- 
135, 187-221, 305-327; rev., Riddle, 
. . . Santa Fe Trail, 338 

Reid, Capt. Mayne (1847), quoted on cow- 
boy, 91 

Revenue, special commission, official publi- 
cations, 150 

Ribero family, genealogy, 265 

Richthofen, Baron Walter von, quoted re 
cowboy, 100 

Riddle, Kenyon, Records and Maps of the 
Old Santa Fe Trail, rev'd., 338 

Riegel, Robert E., Young America 1830-1840, 
rev'd., 168 

Rifle, army (1870's), 113 

Ringgold Barracks, 199 

Rio Grande compact commission, official pub- 
lications, 143 

Rister, Carl Coke, Oil! Titan of the South- 
west, rev'd., 75 

Rocky Mountain Country, by Williams, 
rev'd., 336 

Rodeo, 92 

Royall, Col. W. B., 301 

Roybal family, genealogy, 265 

Rustlers, cattle, 298 

Salazar, Capt. Damacio (1840's), 277 

Salt War at El Paso, 288f 

Samaniego, Dr. Mariano (Juarez, Mexico), 
293 

San Jose de Concordia el Alto, chapel, 291 

Santa Fe Trail, maps, see Kenyon Riddle 

Santa Rita Copper mine, 50 

Saunders, Lyle, rev., Redfield, Chan Kom Re- 
visited .... 174 

Saunderson, Mont H., Western Land and 
Water Use, rev'd., 341 

Sayre, Lieut. Farrand, 325 

Secretary of state (State), official publica- 
tions, 144 

Segale, Sister Blandina, quoted re cowboy, 
102 



352 



NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW 



Seminole Indians, 202 

Serra, Junipero, see Piette, M. C. J. 

Shafter, Col. William Rufus, 205 

Sheepmen's war, 94 

Sheep sanitary board, official publications, 

149 

Shelton, Wilma Loy, "Checklist of New Mex- 
ico Publications," 57-72 ; 136-161 ; 222-241 
Shepherd, Major W., quoted re cowboy, 103 
Sherman, General, quoted re cowboy, 104 
Shunk, Lieut. William Alexander, 324 
Sibley Mountain, 243 
Silver City, 298 
Slaughter, W. B., 94 
Sloan, Wm. J. (1859), 243 
Smith, George Winston, rev., Malin, Grass- 
land Historical Studies . . . , 259 ; rev., 
Rister, Oil! Titan of the Southwest, 75 
Snyder, John, Civil War veteran, 243 
Southern Pacific Railroad and Indians, 312 
Spanish-American and prejudice. 288 
Special revenue commission, official publica- 
tions, 150 

Smallpox at Silver City (1880), 298 
Smith, Mrs. T. M. K., 300 
Stanley, F., "New Mexico's Fabulous Dor- 

sey," 177-186 

Stanton, Fred J., quoted re cowboy, 99 
Steck, Dr. Michael, 243 
Steele, Lieut. Matthew Forney, 315 
Steelhammer, Capt. Charles, 193, note 
Stephenson, Lieut. William, 49, 51 
Stottler, V. E., and Indian education, 34 
Sumner, Capt. Edwin Vose, 117 
Sumner, Maj. Samuel Storrow, 308 
Sun in the Sky, by O'Kane, rev'd., 335 

Tax commission (State), official publica- 
tions, 235 

Taylor, Dr. Blair D., 312 

Tedlock, E. W., Jr., rev., Marriott, The Val- 
ley Below, 339 

Telegraph, military (1876), 197 

Texas-Santa Fe expedition, 278 

The Epic of the Chaco: .... ed. by Yns- 
fran, rev'd., 343 

The Valley Below, by Marriott, rev'd., 839 

Thurston, Willis, 298 

Tilghman, William Matthew, biography, by 
Tilghman, rev'd., 85 

Tilghman, Zoe A., Marshal of the Last Fron- 
tier, rev'd., 85 

Tiswin, 115 

Titiev, Mischa, rev., O'Kane, Sun in the Sky, 
335 

Topeka Commonwealth, quoted re cowboy, 
96 



Toulouse, Joseph H., Jr., The Mission of 
San Gregorio de Ab6 .... rev'd., 171 

Tourist bureau (State), official publications, 
237 

Traveling auditor (State), official publica- 
tions, 238 

Treasurer's office (State), official publica- 
tions, 239 

Treutlein, Theodore E., rev., Williams, 
Rocky Mountain Country, 336 

Twitchell, R. E., Spanish Archives .... 
criticism of, 268, note 

Van Evera, Major D. A., rev., The Epic of 

the Chaco: .... 843 
Velarde, Alfonso, of El Paso, 290 
Velarde, Rafael (1860), 290 
Vizcarra, Col. Antonio, characterization, 

269; death, 271 
Vocational education, see New Mexico 

Walter, Paul A. F., rev., Brayer, William 
Blackmore, 78 

Washington Star (D. C.), quoted re cow- 
boy, 96 

Waters, Harry, 300 

Waters, Lizzie, 299 

Webber, Charles W., quoted re cowboy, 95 

Weeks, Capt. H. S., 324 

Wells, Col. Almond Brown, 43, 47 

Westermeier, Clifford P., "The Cowboy 
Sinner or Saint!," 89-108 

Western Land and Water Use, by Saunder- 
son, rev'd., 341 

Westerners, description of, 107 

Whitehouse, Hiram, 296 

Whitehouse, Katie, 298 

Wieting, Lieut. O. L., 300 

Wilcox, Maj. John Andrew, 306 

Williams, Albert W., Rocky Mountain Coun- 
try, rev'd., 336 

Williams, Lieut. Richard Algernon, 40, 307 

Wint, Capt. Theodore Jonathan, 202 

Winther, O. O., rev., Card, Frontier Jus- 
tice, 170 

Wishart, Lieut. Alexander, 218 

Wood, Lieut. Edward Edgar, 40 

Ynsfran, Pablo Max, ed., The Epic of the 

Chaco: .... rev'd., 343 
Young America, by Riegel, rev'd., 168 
Young, Capt. S. B. M., 206 

Zubiria, Rt. Rev. Jose Laureano de, 272 
Zuni, description (1856), 331 



The Historical Society of New Mexico 

Organized December 26, 1859 

PAST PRESIDENTS 
1859 COL. JOHN B. GRAYSON, U. S. A. 
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adjourned sine die, Sept. 23, 186S 



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